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Book 



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PRESENTED FT 



\A^\aa\ J,V>\o ^V\ , 



THE 



SILK GOODS OF AMERICA: 

A Brief Account of the Recent 

IMPROVEMENTS AND ADVANCES 

OF 

SILK MANUFACTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. 



"VVM. 



. cAvYCKOFF. 




Published under the auspices of the Silk Association of America. j ._, , > , . 

" > ) > > > > ' > > } , JJ , ', > jj 

New York : > ; I, . \ ; \ \ \ > >\'l \ ' 

D. VAN NOSTRAND, Publisher, 
23 Murray Street and 27 Warren Street. 



> , > , j , ' , > 



1879 



t 



V* 



.* 







^ 



Aot 

Je. 18*98. 

6 Mr 02 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by 

W M . C . WYCKOFF, 

in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 




< , < *.« 



it c ; . 



E. O'Keefe, 
Book and Job Printer, 
28, 30, 32 Centre St., N.Y. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

Page. 

Chapter I. — Introductory, ------- 7 

Chapter II.— Raw Silk, 10 

Chapter III. — Sewings and Twist, ------ 14 

Chapter IV. — Weaving — Preparatory Processes, - - - 24 

Chapter V. — Black Dress Goods, - 28 

Chapter VI. — Various Piece Goods, *- - - - - S3 

Chapter VII.— Spun Silk, - - - - - - - 37 

Chapter VIII. — Handkerchiefs, &c, 41 

Chapter IX. — Ribbons, - - - - - . - -44 

Chapter X. — Trimmings and Passementerie, - - - 47 

Chapter XL — Silk Laces, - - - - - - - 5 1 

Chapter XII. — Dyeing, ____-._ 55 

Seventh Annual Report of the Silk Association of America. 

Officers of the Association, 18 79-1 880, ----- 63 

Members of the Association, May, 1879, 65 

Annual Report of the Secretary, - - - - - 69 

Description of the Statistics, - 75 

Chart of Fluctuations of Raw Silk, - - - - - - 77 

Imports of Raw Silk, by countries, - 78 

Imports of Raw Silk, Totals, 1874 to 1878, - - - - 79 



4 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Imports of Silk Manufactures at New York, - 80 

Exports of Silk Manufactures from France, 50 years, - - 81 

" " " "by countries, - 82 

"by articles, - - 83 

United States Exports to France, one year, - 84 

United States Imports from France, one year, - - - 85 

Duties Collected on United States Imports, one year, - - 86-87 

Franco- American Treaty Project : Speech of M. Chotteau, - - 89 

" " Reply of Committee, - - - 95 

American Silk Goods Directory,.. - - - - - -101 

Index of Subjects, - - - - - - - - 115 

Business Announcements, - 121 



PREFACE. 

The manufacture of silk goods in this country has been increasing in 
extent and variety for several years. In a few branches of this industry, 
the articles made here have so completely met the needs of the home 
market that importations from abroad have almost ceased. In certain 
other branches, our factories have barely effected a beginning, and the 
market is still controlled by imported goods. The great bulk of our silk 
manufacturing interests are in positions between these extremes, holding 
a tolerably secure footing on their own soil, but not yet freed from 
foreign competition. 

Meanwhile the general public — the consumers of silk goods — have 
been slenderly informed concerning these changes, and especially as to the 
improvements in manufacture. Everybody knows that silk goods, both 
domestic and foreign, are cheaper now than formerly ; but comparatively 
few persons are aware that the American goods are better as well as 
cheaper. That there is much general ignorance on this subject, may be 
shown in many ways ; perhaps the most striking illustration is presented 
by the fact that nearly the entire product of some of our silk mills is still 
represented as of European make, in the final sales of the retailer to the 
consumer. In fact, our manufacturers have been obliged to make better 
fabrics than their foreign rivals, in order to attain standing in a market 
where imported articles held a long-established reputation. 

It is time that the actual merits of American silks should be laid before 
the American public ; and that in so doing, the whole trade should be 



6 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

represented, rather than its individual members. With the hope of 
partially accomplishing that object, this book has been written. The 
field is a wide one, and the attempt is new ; hence it will not be a matter 
of surprise if the harvest of facts has been imperfectly gleaned. In pre- 
senting this volume to the public, the author would be better satisfied 
with his work if it were nearly as excellent as the fabrics it describes. 



w. c. w. 



44 Howard Street, N. Y., 
July, 1879. 



=s§^Wt^ifa 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 




I. 

Introductory. 

ENTURIES have been required for the development 
of the silk industry of Europe. The manufacture 
in this country dates its early successes nearly forty 
years ago, but its best work has all been done within 
a comparatively recent period. We shall have occa- 
sion in the following chapters to call attention to 
great improvements in the art of making silk goods, 
that have taken place within even four or five years. 
Such progress is the more remarkable as occurring during a time of 
general commercial depression, while prices of all kinds of textile fabrics 
were declining, and while the demand for luxuries — in which all articles 
of silk are usually included — was notably diminished. Under these 
circumstances, the volume of trade was not greatly enlarged, but goods 
that were better in every way, and of a far higher and more difficult order 
of manufacture, were produced. 

Many causes have combined in bringing about this result. The war 
of the rebellion stimulated most of our manufacturing interests by check- 
ing importations of foreign goods. During the period of inflated prices 
that followed, many new factories were built and the facilities for work 
were greatly extended. Direct trade with Asia across the Pacific Ocean 
and by rail from San Francisco, brought Chinese and Japanese raw silks 
to this market, of better quality and of lower cost than before, placing us 
more nearly on a level with Europe in respect to supplies of the raw 
material. When the so-called "hard times'" came, people in general 
reduced their purchases of the more costly foreign silks. European 
manufacturers strove to meet the change by making cheaper and inferior 
goods ; our manufacturers tried to catch trade by making better fabrics, 
since there was at all events no profit in the cheaper lines. The Centen- 



8 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

nial Exhibition did good service by showing to hundreds of thousands 
of our people something of the advances in manufacture, and it helped to 
develop a spirit of patriotism that appreciates goods made here, as at least 
equal to those that are imported. 

Meanwhile the introduction of the power-loom had started a general 
change and overhauling of the machinery employed. Our countrymen 
have been much more prompt than Europeans in this matter, substituting 
steam-driven machinery for the hand-loom upon each new kind of goods 
as fast as they were demanded. We now make all sorts of fabrics on power- 
looms, from gossamer veiling to upholstery brocatelle, and the uniformity 
of goods thus made, is, in itself, an improvement. The workers in the 
mills have also been learning, so that they waste less silk, and perform 
their labor more efficiently, in connection with the new machinery. 

The most important of the causes which have led to the improvement 
of our silk goods remains to be noticed ; it is the continuance of the tariff 
policy of the Government. If that had vacillated during the last ten or 
fifteen years, we should have had no story of improvement to tell. 

The rapid changes of fashion, although at times inflicting loss on our 
manufacturers, are probably on the whole, a benefit. These changes 
compel improvement in the art. Any new, finer, higher grade of goods 
obliges the maker to perfect his labor as well as his machinery. Our 
people are also more enterprising than their foreign competitors in making 
changes of machinery required for novelties, and thus meeting the de- 
mand while a fashion is at its height. It is scarcely too much to say that 
extensive alterations are made in a week or two in our mills, which would 
not be effected for months at Lyons, St. Etienne, or Crefeld. 

This enterprising haste to meet new requirements of fashion is charac- 
teristic of our manufacturers, and, not being confined to a few, results in 
sharp competition between them. Consequently the prices of these goods 
are not exorbitant. A different result takes place in a market that is solely 
dependent upon foreign goods, where one or two importers who happen 
to obtain just the things that are in demand, can safely insist upon the 
very highest prices. 

It will be noticed when we come to particulars concerning various 
kinds of silk goods, that, parallel with their improvement in quality and 
the increase of their manufacture in this country, there has been a steady 
decline in their cost to the consumer. This is the legitimate result of 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 9 

healthy competition here. It furnishes an unanswerable argument in favor 
of a tariff policy which protects home industry. 

Since, however, our manufacturers have been continually obliged to 
sink money in enlarging their facilities, improving their machinery, and 
educating their work-people for their tasks ; and since prices for all kinds 
of silk goods have steadily declined, it follows that the business has not 
been largely profitable. Manufacturers have mostly held their own, but 
have not reaped riches. The great benefits have accrued to two classes — 
the consumers, who have obtained better and cheaper goods ; the opera- 
tives, who have had steady employment. It is pleasant to know that the 
work-people who have thus been benefited are of a higher class than the 
average. The work is cleanly, comparatively light, and is not hurtful in 
any wav to the operative. Hence it happens that respectable parents who 
would object to having their families employed in other factories, are glad 
to have them busy in the silk mills. The contrast between the laboring 
classes of this country and of Europe is nowhere more striking than in 
this industry. 




IO 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 




II. 

Raw Silk. 

HE raw material of which silk goods are made, is not 
produced in this country. This has been the case 
since 1840, with the exception of a few scattered ex- 
periments of little profit and no commercial import- 
ance. There had been some business done in silk 
culture for many years before the date named, but it 
was swept out of existence by the ruin which followed 
great speculations in mulberry plantations and a wide- 
spread blight of the trees. In a large portion of the United States, 
healthy silkworms can be bred and reared by anybody who has time, 
patience, and mulberry trees at command. The sole difficulty is to 
dispose of the cocoons at a profit. The manufacturer of silk goods 
wants reeled silk, not cocoons. Reeling is the most important process 
in preparing the raw silk, the value of that article depending largely 
upon the way in which the reeling is performed. It is best conducted at 
a filature where cheap but skilled labor can be applied. There is no 
filature at present in this country. 

Whether, under certain favoring circumstances, it would not be prac- 
ticable to produce silk profitably in the United States, is an open 
question. A great deal has been said and written upon the subject. 
The most reasonable conclusions that have been reached, are to the 
following effect : It is not at all advisable to undertake silk-culture any- 
where on a large scale. The industry is not likely to be profitable, even 
though conducted in a small way, if the culturist must first be at a 
considerable outlay for land and mulberry trees, or has to hire labor 
specially for the undertaking. If the women of a farming household 
could, in addition to their usual labors, rear silkworms ; and if a sufficient 
number of families in a neighborhood were engaged in the business to 
produce cocoons enough to keep a filature busy, then capital could be 
easily found to build a filature and train its operatives. In any case it is 
not to be expected that the business would be highly remunerative, 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. II 

though it might, if skillfully conducted, add a little to the income of 
many households in the Middle, Western and Southern States, after the 
first difficulties were overcome. 

Of the raw silk now used in manufacture in this country, about twenty- 
four per cent, is shipped from Europe and the rest from Asia ; but some 
part of that imported from England, is of Asiatic origin. In Italy and 
France there are two classes of silk produced : ' ' country silk, " which is 
reeled in households and by primitive methods ; ' ' filature silk, ' ' which 
has been reeled with skill and sedulous care in the filatures. The 
"country silk" is, of course, inferior, and very little of it is sent to this 
country, because it requires much labor to be expended upon it in manu- 
facturing processes. The factories of Europe, where labor is cheap, can 
use inferior silk to better advantage than is possible in America. The 
silk produced in China is in the first instance, "country silk ;" to prepare 
it for this market, it has to be re-reeled. The Japanese now have filatures, 
and send us silk that is equal to the best of European. In Asia, as in 
Europe, the coarser and inferior silks are kept at home ; America gets 
the finest and best. 

This result, as to Asiatic silks, has been slowly brought about. The 
Chinese are a people who cannot be hurried, and many years and no 
little effort were required to impress upon them the necessity of re-reeling 
to suit our market. The reels for this purpose were in the first instance 
made here and sent out to China ; their use was brought about by the 
urgent and repeated representations of American merchants there. The 
re-reeling is, however, not always well done. Aside from carelessness, 
which alone would deteriorate the value very largely, there is considerable 
imposition practiced in adulterating Chinese raw silk. Sugar, salt, rice, 
and acetate of lead are mentioned as among the substances used for 
adulteration. At intervals there have been brief periods when there was 
more care and less fraud in Chinese re-reeling ; at present there is a 
season of backsliding, and the "raws" are about as bad as they have 
ever been. 

The Japanese have taken a different course. Within four or five years 
they have established a number of filatures, where excellent work is per- 
formed. The government has encouraged the work, and owns one of the 
filatures, where skilled operatives from Europe were employed at first, and 
native labor has since been educated. The result has been that while the 



12 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



Chinese have improved a very little, the Japanese have advanced with 
singular rapidity, and their silk has taken rank with the best in our 
market. No fraud is attempted by adulteration in Japanese silks, and 
though there is, of course, some variation in their quality, their tendency 
is toward a uniformly higher standard. The amount of Japanese silk 
sent to this market is steadily increasing. 

In European raw silk the variations of quality have been less important 
than those of quantity. The silkworm is a prey to numerous maladies, and 
is especially sensitive to weather changes during the brief season of rearing. 
The differences of product in good or bad years are enormous. The fol- 
lowing table will illustrate these variations, and also indicate the striking 
effect of a disease called pebrine, which began to exhibit its force in 1864 : 



Annual Silk Production in Italy. 



Before the malady, 

1863, - - 

1864, 

1865, - 

1866, 

1867, - - 

1868, 

1869, 

1870, 

1871, - 

1872, 

1873, - 
1874, 

1875, - - 
1876, 

1877, - - 
1878, 



KILOS. 
3,710,000 

2,308,000 

1,731,000 

1,762,000 

1,800,800 

2,000,000 

1,900,000 

2,150,000 

3,l8o,000 

3,473,000 

3,125,000 

2,960,000 

3,430,000 

3,073,000 

1,010,000 

1,853,400 

2,650,000 



Diminution, 



38 


per cent, 


53 


t( 


5 2 


a 


5i 


1 i 


46 


a 


49 


a 


42 


a 


H 


it 


6 


a 


16 


a 


20 


a 


7 


Ct 


17 


a 


72 


a 


5° 


a 


28 


a 



As there has been a gradual increase of consumption of silk goods 
throughout the world, it may be fairly inferred that a like increase of the 
production of raw silk has taken place. But the variety in the size of 
crops in different countries in successive years has been so great as to 
mask the total increase. These fluctuations, carrying prices with them, 
so that the material is worth twice as much at one time as at another, are 
most pernicious to manufacturing interests. It is a singular fact that the 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 1 3 

market for goods sympathizes only to a small extent with that of the raw 
material. When the value of silk doubled during the speculation of 1 876, 
the price of a silk dress was scarcely raised at all. As a rule, the advance 
of cost of raw silk, when it does take place, is exceedingly rapid ; its fall 
is apt to be equally precipitate. While the high price lasts, it is a terrible 
oppression to the small manufacturer. When twice as much money is re- 
quired to buy material, he can only purchase half as much, either for cash 
or on credit ; and for a while at least, he must calculate to make goods 
at a loss. If the changes in value were at all permanent, the trade could 
'soon be accommodated to them ; but a great speculation in raw silk is 
like a cyclone of wind and rain, that brings destruction instead of fertil- 
izing the earth. 

A marked change in the currents of trade has taken place since the 
opening of direct routes to Asia. In the raw silk business this has 
resulted in transferring to France the bulk of Asiatic imports, which for- 
merly went to England. There are, however, great facilities for handling, 
selling and buying raw silk in London, and that city still holds eminence 
as a silk market. The amount of raw silk consumed in this country is 
not large enough to exercise control in foreign markets, and our prices 
are regulated by those of Europe. We can and do, however, purchase 
as cheaply in Asia as European buyers. Raw silk being a costly article 
of small bulk, the freight on it adds little to its cost, though to reach us it 
must come half way around the world. But the new routes of com- 
merce bring us silk more quickly than in former years, making it cost 
less in insurance, in interest on capital, and in the risk of change of price 
while in transit. The importation of raw silk into this country was 
greater last year than in any preceding year, as will be seen from the fol- 
lowing figures of receipts at United States ports : 

POUNDS. POUNDS. 

1870, .... 738,381 1875, ----- 1,330,482 

1871, - . - ' - - . 1,291,675 1876, .... 1,252,312 

1872, . . . 1,244,193 1877, .... - 1,007,504 

1873, 831,728 1878, - i,59°> 6 63 

1874, .... 806,774 



14. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 




III. 

Saving- Silk and Machine-Twist. 

HE manufacture of silk thread in this country is a dis- 
tinct branch of industry, which has wholly outgrown 
foreign competition. Its commanding position has 
not been, however, easily attained. A deep-rooted 
prejudice in favor of Italian sewing-silk was implant- 
ed in the breasts of our countrywomen. For a long 
while the products of New England mills could only 
be sold in the partial disguise afforded by labels 
and wrappers in some degree resembling those of foreign goods. To 
meet this prejudice, the leading manufacturers adopted as trade-names for 
their goods, words newly compounded for the purpose, and having Italian 
terminations. A curious memorial of that era is carefully preserved in 
the counting-room of a large East India importing house in this city. 
The relic occupies a space of 65 by 40 inches, and is quaintly painted 
in colored letters. It is a Declaration of Independence on the part of 
the silk manufacturers of this country. In no branch of the industiy 
has the spirit of this declaration been lived up to so completely, as in 
the sewings and twist trade. Let us hope that in all other departments 
there may be before long a similar compliance with this most excellent 
resolution, which reads as follows : 



1843 — Oct. 13th — Eesolved, that this Convention learns with deep 
regret that, as in other kinds of Amekican Manufacture, it has 
hitherto been deemed necessary to attach the Foreign Labels, Eng- 
lish, French and Italian, to the excellent sewings and fabrics of our 
own Silk Manufacturers, in order to command a ready sale in our 
city markets, superior as these sewings and fabrics are known to be, 
in strength, texture and durability to the foreign articles. 

And we earnestly recommend to Our Silk Manufacturers, now in 
the infancy of our enterprise, to set a Good Example to their brethren 
in other manufactures, by attaching their own name to their^own goods. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 1 5 

The trade-marks of the four most prominent silk manufacturers of that 
day, ornament the corners of the board which bears the foregoing legend. 

At first, American sewing-silks were made exclusively in skeins, and 
they were introduced by being carried from door to door and sold to 
actual consumers. The methods of testing the qualities of the silk were 
primitive. The buyer would pull and hold up a thread to ascertain 
whether it was likely to kink, for the sewing-silk of that day was not 
always properly twisted. Then followed an examination by drawing it 
over the finger-nail, to detect the dirt and slugs which were not rarely 
left in inferior grades. The final test was by comparison with some thread 
already known and approved. This was effected by taking a thread from 
each of the two kinds to be compared, and crossing them so that each 
caught the other in a loop. A vigorous pull then broke one or the other, 
usually at the point of crossing, and was regarded as determining which was 
the stronger. Even as a comparative test, this method was not very trust- 
worthy, since a hard-twisted thread would cut one of looser texture, even 
though the latter might be somewhat the stronger. 

At a later period it became customary to test sewing-silks by means of a 
clumsy machine ; a sort of steelyards having a heavy ball attached to a 
lever. According to the strength of the silk, it was capable of pulling the 
ball so that a pointer moved through a less or greater segment of a circle. 
This contrivance has been greatly improved. The pointer now remains 
at the place on the scale where the pull breaks the silk, and hence fixes 
the record of strength. The whole instrument is far more compact than 
formerly ; it is usually accompanied with a winding-machine, and the two 
together occupy a box less than a cubic foot in size. This box forms an 
indispensable part of the equipment of the traveling agent of a sewing-silk 
manufacturer. 

The sewing-machine was the means of a revolution in this branch of 
business. The consumption of thread of all kinds has been enormously 
increased by that invention, and sewing-silk shared in the enlarged de- 
mand. But when sewing-machines were first introduced, the silk thread 
then made was not specially adapted for use upon them. The shuttle of 
the machine did not always pass through the loop that was carried down 
by the needle, and hence a stitch would be dropped at intervals. At 
length, after many experiments, the discovery was made that this defect 
could be obviated by making the thread in a different way. The newly- 



1 6 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

invented thread, which serves its purpose perfectly, was denominated 
"machine-twist," and it still retains the name, which is sometimes 
abbreviated to "twist." 

The distinction between "sewing-silk" and "twist" is of kind as well 
as of degree. Sewing-silk, often designated simply as "sewings," con- 
sists of two threads twisted from left to right ; that is, it has the twist of a 
right-handed screw. Machine-twist is made of three threads twisted from 
right to left, and is usually of a harder, closer twist than sewings. The 
latter may be put up either in skeins or on spools ; machine-twist is 
always spooled. While sewing-silk cannot well be used for the sewing- 
machine, "twist" can be employed for a great variety of purposes besides 
that for which it was devised ; it has taken the place of sewings to a con- 
siderable extent, and this substitution is still going on in different manu- 
factures. Merchant-tailors and other makers of clothing are now almost 
the only users of skein silk. 

The real excellence of thread and its service to the consumer, depend 
in no small degree upon its regularity of size. Elsewhere in this volume 
are specified the chief causes which occasion a want of uniformity in the 
thickness of fibre of even the best raw silk. The first thing done by our 
manufacturer after opening his bales, is to sort this raw material into four 
or five lots of different sizes of fibre. To illustrate the range of variation, 
we may say that of raw silk of the finest sort, five fibres may go to make 
one of the three strands that are put together in a thread of machine-twist ; 
while of coarser raw silk, two fibres would make the thickness of one such 
strand. If composed of thick and thin fibres mingled, the strands would 
not twist uniformly. Silk of thin fibre is comparatively the most desir- 
able. For obvious reasons, the greater the number of fibres composing a 
thread, the better it will be in respect to uniformity, roundness, smoothness, 
and probably, strength. 

After being sorted in approximate sizes by skillful hands, the thread is 
duly twisted and wound upon bobbins. By an ingenious arrangement of 
machinery that need not be described here, the thread is cut off in even 
lengths of, say S33i yards — that is, three lengths to 1,000 yards — and 
these lengths are temporarily made into hanks, usually called "skeins," 
to be weighed or " drammed." Now comes the nicety of the business ; 
every skein is weighed with the utmost accuracy, the most delicate weights 
and weighing apparatus being employed. As the skeins are weighed, 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. I 7 

they are sorted accordingly, upon a long series of hooks, each hook taking 
all the skeins of a given weight as registered in ounces and hundredths of 
an ounce. In adding dyestuffs, an allowance has to be made for the dif- 
ference thus occasioned in the size of the thread. Where a twist of dif- 
ferent character is to be employed, that too is to be considered as an im- 
portant element in the size produced. These allowances, in the best fac- 
tories, are not mere guess-work or rule of thumb ; they are absolutely cal- 
culated on mathematical principles. 

As was before stated, the consumer of the silk gets the benefit of all 
this sedulous care. The reason why two large knots are usually to be 
found in each spool of a thousand yards of otherwise perfect sewing 
silk or "twist," will now be apparent; they join the skeins. It would 
be far easier for the manufacturer to make each spool-full without a knot ; 
but then the thread of a single spool would itself, probably, be of uneven 
thickness. 

Finally, the spooled silk is put up in one of two grand divisions ; either 
as yard-goods or as ounce-goods. In general it may be stated that the 
yard-goods are sold by the yard, irrespective of weight. These constitute 
the majority of the spools sold at retail by dry goods and fancy goods 
dealers. The ounce-goods are sold by weight, which is stated on the 
spools in ounces and ounce-fractions ; the thread is mostly used for 
manufacturing purposes ; and the makers of shoes, corsets and clothing 
prefer silk thus put up, because it is on large spools that do not have to 
be so frequently replaced as smaller ones, on the sewing machines. 

As long ago as 1867, one of our manufacturers conceived the idea of 
making a "pure dye" machine-twist. At that time there was no definite 
understanding between members of the trade as to what purity in dye 
should signify. All agreed that the making of heavily-loaded silk should 
not be encouraged, but there was a notion that the thread might receive 
some benefit from dye which had astringent properties, and that if less 
than a certain amount of this dye were used, the silk would be weaker. 
The reasoning which led to an opposite conclusion was founded on ob- 
serving that coarse white (silk) thread was preferred by the makers of fine 
shoes, in sewing up the backs, it being found better for this purpose, and 
more easily worked, than black silk. Evidently, more silk will be sup- 
plied to a given thickness of thread, where there is little dyestuff than 
where there is much ; the needle will be more nearly filled by silk 



1 8 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

alone, and hence the hole made by the needle (which is necessarily larger 
than the thread) will receive more silk. The hole will be better filled 
with a material which expands as silk does, than if part of the thread 
were mere dyestuff. Hence superior work might be produced with pure 
dye silk, even if the comparative strength of the thread were thrown out 
of the question. Careful experiment showed that after removing the 
natural gum from a pound of raw silk, and thus reducing it to twelve 
ounces, an ounce, or at least three-fourths of an ounce of dye must be 
used to render the silk of a satisfactory black. There is still some differ- 
ence of opinion in the trade as to whether one ounce of dye to twelve 
ounces of pure silk, or four to twelve, will give the most serviceable 
thread in proportion to cost. Of these two kinds the first is known to 
the trade as "13-02. dye" or "pure dye;" the second as 16-oz. dye" 
or "standard." Into the merits of this controversy we do not propose 
to enter. In the "standard" goods, the dyestufT exactly replaces the 
natural gum which has to be removed before the silk will receive color, 
and it is argued that the dyed thread is therefore just as strong, weight 
for weight, as it was when raw ; perhaps even stronger, if the dye has the 
effect on silk that tanning does upon leather. 

The standard of purity of American sewing-silk has been very con- 
scientiously adhered to, and this, no doubt, largely helped in the struggle 
to obtain the market originally held by foreign thread. Quite recently 
there appeared in an English newspaper, published in a town where there 
are still the remnants of a considerable silk industry, an urgent appeal to 
the manufacturers of silk thread in that locality, pointing out the injury 
that over-weighting had done to their trade, and suggesting the adoption 
of the American standard of dye. In that essay it was indicated that 
from 18 to 25 ounces of thread were usually made in England from a 
pound of raw silk, and we may well believe that this estimate is not too 
high. Scarcely any of the European thread equals, and none of it excels 
our own, in purity. 

When manufacturers had determined to sell a pure or standard dye silk, 
a necessity arose for convincing customers of the superior value of the ar- 
ticle, since it could not be afforded for sale at the price of heavily weighted 
thread. A system was at last devised which has gradually recommended 
itself to both makers and purchasers, and is now generally accepted by the 
trade. It consists in fixing the value of any given specimen of silk accord- 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 19 

ing to its length and strength. It is evident, if we have a thread of such 
strength that it will pull a weight of five pounds before breaking, that the 
same thread if doubled will sustain ten pounds. Therefore 1,000 yards 
of thread of 5-pound strength is exactly equal to 500 yards of 10-pound 
strength, or to 333] yards of 15-pound strength, and so on. This equality 
can be easiest shown by multiplying the strength and length together, 
which will in these instances give the same product, 5,000. It is assumed 
that the figure obtained by such a multiplication will always serve as a 
ratio of value. Let us apply this ratio to fix prices for a heavily weighted 
thread 1,000 yards long; we will say, silk that has been doubled in 
weight by the process of dyeing. If it is sold by the yard, the price need 
not be changed, since the number of yards remains the same ; the maker 
gets the same sum of money and the buyer gets the same amount of real 
silk as if there had been no adulteration in the dyehouse. If the thread 
be sold by the spool, the bulk will be doubled by the extra dye, two 
spools will be made of it instead of one, and (estimated by the ratio) each 
spool will be worth half as much. If again the thread is sold by weight, 
only half the price can be demanded per ounce, as compared with a 
standard article. 

The trade having widely recognized the truth of this theory, it is cus- 
tomary in making a considerable sale of silk thread, for the salesman to 
bring out his little testing-machine, show the length per spool in yards and 
the strength in pounds, multiply the figures thus attained, and exhibit 
them as evidence that the goods equal or surpass a given standard. If 
two samples are to be compared, the rule of three is usually employed, 
thus : 



Sample A. 
Sample B. 



PULLS. 

5 pounds. 
4 J pounds. 



LENGTH. 

1,000 yards. 
950 yards. 



OFFERED PRICE. 

$8.00 per dozen spools. 
$7. 50 per dozen spools. 



Which is the cheaper? The problem is worked as follows : 
(5x1,000) : (45x950) :: $8.00. 

This gives as an answer, $7.22 ; showing that the price at which the 
sample B is offered is about four per cent, higher than that of A. The 
fairness of this system is indisputable ; the purchaser certainly has no rea- 
son to complain, since, by it, a manufacturer who overweights his silk 
gets nothing for the superfluous dyestuff. Its effect is to encourage the 
making of the purest grades of silk, by securing for them a proportionate 



20 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

price. Obviously, if loaded silk is sold at the price of that which is pure, 
the purchaser buys mere dyestuff — metallic salts — at the price of and in- 
stead of silk. In general, white and colored thread is not loaded ; but 
black can be adulterated by an unscrupulous maker, to the extent of 
trebling its weight. The system of comparison above described also 
serves admirably in determining the price for thread of different degrees of 
strength and fineness. The range in this respect is very wide ; there is 
machine-twist made (for the use of harness and trunk makers, and other 
workers in leather) that will pull 30 to 35 pounds ; but its length to the 
ounce may not be more than 175 yards. In the other extreme, there is thread 
for stitching ladies' ties and light work in general, that will measure 3, 000 
yards to the ounce, but is scarcely capable of pulling two pounds. Some 
of the consumers of machine-twist have discovered, that in an emergency, 
they can obtain a thinner silk thread by untwisting the machine-twist, and 
using its three separate strands, after waxing them slightly. Before clos- 
ing our account of the method of testing by length and strength, we 
should mention that it does not distinguish between thread that is perfect 
in finish, color and cleanliness, and that which is in such respects inferior ; 
hence it can only apply after making allowance for any existing differences 
of that kind. 

Endeavors have been made to introduce for popular use, chemical 
methods for determining whether silk thread is heavily weighted. In the 
hands of a chemist such tests should be conclusive, but quantitative 
analysis is not easily performed by those who are unskilled in the arts of 
the laboratory. Excessive adulteration can, however, be readily detected 
by burning the thread and observing its ashes, or by rubbing it, after 
moistening, between the fingers. Less reliance can be placed in tests de- 
pending on the solubility of dyestuff in an acid. 

The colored silk thread produced here is not surpassed in delicacy, 
brilliance, and permanence of hue. The variety of .tints that may be 
called for, is almost infinite, and the manufacturer is obliged to sort and 
classify different shades, with painstaking accuracy. This is, in at least 
one instance, effected on a strictly scientific basis. The text-books of 
science did not afford the data for such a classification, and the manufac- 
turer deserves credit for working out this difficult problem by his own re- 
search and study. A brilliant display of colors rendered the cases of 
sewing-silk and twist most attractive objects in the Centennial Exhibition. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 21 

But various as may be the hues which each mill turns out in the regular 
course of work, a further variety is called for by customers who wish to 
match new or special shades of goods with similar thread. A few days 
suffice for this purpose. If we were dependent upon European mills 
for silk thread, and had to send to them to match a given shade, the pro- 
bability is that the color itself would be out of fashion before the thread 
of the required tint could be ordered, made, and imported. 

Improvements have been made from time to time in the machinery for 
producing sewings and twist. Of these we can only offer a brief notice, 
since a technical description might be wearisome. There is a useful 
contrivance called a " stretcher," which pulls out the component strands 
of a thread so that they are brought to an even thickness. This is 
of importance, because if there is one strand thicker than another, it will 
"ride'*' in twisting, and the thread will be defective. It is claimed by 
those who use the stretcher that no thread made with it is of second (or 
inferior) quality, so far as the work of the mill is concerned. Before the 
stretcher was used, a considerable amount of labor had to be employed in 
cutting out threads of irregular thickness and tying them on bobbins 
where they would be better matched ; all this, it is said, is now avoided. 
The " cleaner" in ordinary use consists of two edges of metal, between 
which the thread is passed, to catch fluff and slugs. There is a new 
cleaner, in which the thread goes around a series of spindles, so as. to rub 
against itself, and by such friction get rid of its superfluities. There are 
measuring machines attached to various parts of the machinery ; one of 
these, in spooling ounce goods, determines exactly the length of even- 
ounce of thread ; so that the silk on each spool is of definite size, length 
and weight. 

The spools themselves are greatly improved. One manufacturer, who 
makes his own spools, believes that he can identify them anywhere, without 
looking at their labels, as he claims that there is a certain finish and 
smoothness about them which no other spools possess. Near the factory 
there are hundreds of cords of white birch stacked under cover, to drv. 
The wood comes from the forests of Maine, and requires one or two 
years of seasoning before it can be converted into spools. Printing upon 
the spools instead of upon labels to be attached to them, is now generally 
preferred. Three or four different patents have been issued for inventions 
to meet this object. A machine costing $650 to build will print about 



22 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

ioo spools in a minute ; they pass through a hopper, are centered by a rod, 
and then the printing-dies stamp in the lettering. Good spools are a 
necessity to secure the best work from the sewing-machine ; if, for 
instance, the wood shrinks after the thread is wound upon it, the delivery 
will be irregular. The superiority of spools made in this country has 
attracted the attention of European manufacturers, and some of them 
have spools for their own goods made and printed here. 

A curious custom has grown up in the sewings and twist trade, of 
presenting cabinets to large buyers of goods. These structures are often 
elegant and costly ; they are used to display the goods, and are elaborately 
made of fine woods and plate glass, with numerous drawers and compart- 
ments. Some of the handsomest have cost $350 apiece, and several have 
been presented that were worth $250 to $300 each ; a $50 one is not at all 
unusual. These values, it will be observed, are the cost of cabinets to 
the silk manufacturer, who orders a number at a time ; a single one made 
to order would be a much more expensive piece of furniture. There is 
a tacit understanding with the recipient of such a gift that he will continue 
to buy goods from the manufacturer who presented it ; to use it for goods 
from any other mill would be deemed dishonorable. The cabinet is 
given on the first sale to a new customer, and its value may be as much 
as ten per cent, of the goods purchased on that occasion ; but the cost of 
these presents on the part of a large manufacturer is not estimated as over 
1 J per cent, of his total sales. Nevertheless, the burden of this custom 
is a heavy one ; a single firm estimates that it has expended $150,000 in 
such gifts. The practice is not wholly indefensible, since the goods 
would in any case have had to be put up attractively, and the cabinet, in 
a large dry goods house, serves the purposes of an advertisement. There 
are many indications that extravagance in cabinets has passed its highest 
point, and the custom might be entirely abolished if manufacturers would 
make and keep an agreement on the subject. 

The competition of the makers of silk thread is, however, exceed- 
ingly keen, and agreements between them arc short-lived. Although 
they have entire control of the home market, and have excluded the 
foreign rivals who once had possession of the field, our manufacturers 
have never been able to obtain high prices for their goods, or secure more 
than a slender margin of profit. The consumer has had the chief benefit 
from every improvement in this branch of industry, and prices are lower 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 23 

at present than they have ever been before. Small as are the profits, they 
seem sufficient to turn the mill-wheels. The large concerns say that the 
only reason they can do business at a profit, is because their trade is 
extensive and varied enough to enable them to work up all their material 
into the sizes that the raw silk is best suited for, instead of being obliged 
to average it in favor of sizes that are most in demand ; thus they make 
a more uniform thread, and to better advantage, than where the sizes are 
not matched so accurately. On the other hand, the proprietors of the 
small mills claim that by more careful economy, lighter expenses, and 
less of costly display, they can compete with their mighty rivals. 

When it is considered that sewings and twist are, in the main, staple 
articles, little dependent upon changes of fashion ; that the duties upon 
them are one-third less than on silk fabrics ; and that their raw material 
— which is the larger part of their cost — is brought hither from the other 
side of the world, it, seems surprising that European manufacturers, with 
far greater advantages for making the goods, and with a long-established 
reputation for their sewing silks in this country, should have utterly lost 
our market. But nobody who compared the displays of our own and the 
foreign spooled silk at the Centennial Exhibition, could help noticing the 
inferior appearance of the European goods. They looked coarse. The 
colors were out of date, or wanting in taste. The thread showed the need 
of the modern improvements. Probably the chief reason why Europeans 
have in this instance lost their trade here, is because of the greater quick- 
ness of our people in adopting improved methods of manufacture, such 
as, for instance, making " twist " for the sewing-machine. Changes that 
might seem insignificant in a coarser kind of industry, in this become im- 
portant ; an alteration of method or machinery that prevents a little waste 
may make just the difference of profit or loss in the production of a mill. 
Our manufacturers use better raw material, adulterate it less, and employ 
better machinery in making the thread than ever before. The writer is 
assured by one of our largest concerns that they arc preparing to sell 
American machine-twist in Europe, being convinced that this can be done 
at a profit. 



2\ 



TH2 SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 




IV. 

Jl \aving — p7'eparaiory Processes. 

MERICAN manufacturers are obliged to use the best 
of raw silk, as a simple measure of economy. To 
explain this singular fact, we must give some details. 
The material which comes to this country- from China, 
Japan, Italy or France, for the use of our manufac- 
turers, is known as "raw-silk. "' It has been reeled 
from cocoons, and perhaps re-reeled, before it was 
started on its ocean voyage. There are great differ- 
ences in the quality of cocoons, dependent upon the breed of the silk- 
worms, the climate in which they are reared, the food and care they 
receive, and other circumstances affecting their health. The irregu- 
larities thus occasioned in the quality of the silk may be largely avoided 
in the countries where the silk is reeled, if the cocoons are very carefully 
sorted before reeling, so that all of each grade of silk shall be brought 
together. There is found on the outside of every cocoon a considerable 
amount of light thread, containing more or less roughness and impurity, 
and in general, unfit for reeling. This ought to be stripped off entirely, 
and accounted as "waste silk/' but some of it occasionally finds its way 
to the reel, in inferior grades of the raw material. When a filament 
that is fit for the reel has been reached, it is found that this filament is 
itself uneven in strength and thickness, the exterior layers being weaker 
and thinner than those nearer the insect. It is the business of the ex- 
perienced reeler to put a thread of an even thickness and strength upon 
his reel. To do this, he may have to unite four, five or more filaments, 
from different cocoons, in a single thread ; the number of filaments de- 
pending on their comparative thickness and the size of thread required. 
So much, indeed, depends upon the skill of the reeler, that we may be 
perfectly certain that a careless or inexperienced hand will produce thread 
which varies in thickness so as to be of little value, even if it does not 
contain dirt, rough knots, or tangle. At the best filatures, all that is 
possible is done, by watchfulness and care, to avoid these defects, and 
produce thread of approximate uniformity. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



2 5 



"I date," says one of our manufacturers, "the first great step in re- 
cent improvements, at the opening of the overland route, which brought 
us raw silk direct from Asia. Before that time we got from there only 
the silk which Europe rejected — the refuse of the markets. Since that 
route was opened, we have had the choice of the market, and now the 
very best comes to this country, 

The contrast between the raw silk used here and that which serves for 
making the same kind of goods in Europe, is very striking. What our 
manufacturers would regard as " poor silk," worth perhaps one dollar per 
pound less than the best, would be accounted very fair silk for delivery to 
the European weaver. The reason on the part of our manufacturer for 
choosing the best raw material, at a necessarily higher price, may be very 
easily stated ; his experience has taught him that the best is cheapest. 
All the processes from first to last by which an inferior article can be made 
to appear equal to that of a higher grade, are costly in labor. 

In any case there are about a dozen distinct processes which raw silk 
must undergo to prepare it for the loom. We will name these in their 
order : 



For Organzine. 



Assorting. 

Winding. 

Cleaning. 

Spinning. 

Doubling. 

Twisting. 

Dramming. 



For Tram. 

Assorting. 
Winding. 

Cleaning. 
Doubling. 
Spinning. 
Dramming 



Winding. 


Winding. 


Cleaning. 


Cleaning. 


Doubling. 


Doubling. 


Warping. 


Quilling. 


Picking. 





For both Organzine 
and Tram. 



Dyeing. 



Weaving. 



In each of these processes except dyeing, imperfections in the thread 
cause loss of time and material. Suppose, for instance, that the raw silk, 
as imported, is uneven. That is to say, the continuous thread which is 



26 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

to be wound upon a spool, is found to be of irregular thickness as it un- 
winds from the reel. Such a thread is stronger in some parts and weaker 
in others. What happens ? Probably the thread breaks in the first wind- 
ing from the reel. The winding machinery stops automatically, and per- 
haps a portion of the thread which is weaker than the rest has to be pulled 
off and thrown aside as waste silk. Then a knot must be tied, and the 
winding goes on again. But if the raw silk is very irregular in thickness, 
a similar accident can happen in any of the subsequent processes ; a loom 
may have to be suddenly stopped ; it is always the same story — breakage, 
stoppage, waste of time (labor) and of material. The loss of time, when 
machinery, running at high speed, has to be stopped, becomes a serious 
matter, from the mere fact that there is no production during the stoppage. 
" It costs," said a manufacturer, " fully five times as much to tie a knot 
in this country as in France." 

To eliminate, so far as is possible, defects of this class, silk is subjected 
to a series of sortings between the steps of its progress from the cocoon 
to the loom. The importance of the correct sorting of raw silk is so 
great that a considerable portion of the recent improvement in our manu- 
factured goods is traceable to the fact of our receiving from Asia at the 
present time stock that is more carefully assorted in respect to sizes. In 
former times there would be found all sorts of sizes in a package of raw 
silk, and almost the only distinction set forth between the parcels was, 
that one was for "tram' 7 and the other for ' ' organzine. (The warp 
threads are organzine ; the woof or "filling" is tram.) At the present 
day it is recognized by raw silk producers that if the material is not 
properly assorted, it is not fit for the American market. Our manufac- 
turers also take more pains than formerly, to make their own sorting of 
the raw material fairly accurate, previous to the first winding. Moreover, 
at a later stage, but before they are dyed, the threads are weighed with ex- 
actness by a mechanical process called "dramming," and sorted again. 
The precise weight which a piece of goods will have when it is woven, is 
calculated and known beforehand. By means of such care, the manu- 
facture is conducted with greater economy ; the consumer reaps the 
benefit in goods that are better because more uniform, and at the same 
time cheaper. 

One of the preparatory processes that precede weaving, has been men- 
tioned as "picking." This consists of spreading out every thread of the 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



27 



warp separately, examining it with the utmost minuteness, and removing 
all knots, slugs and irregularities. A large number of slowly moving 
threads are spread out like a huge fan, while keen eyes are bent upon 
them, and nimble fingers seize and extract the imperfections. The con- 
trast between higher and lower grades of silk becomes very apparent 
when the threads are thus spread out. In the very best silk, scarcely 
anything like lumps on the thread will be visible to an untrained eye ; in 
inferior silk, such defects are numerous and of comparatively large size. 
In Europe, where weaving is mostly done by hand, picking is part of the 
business of the weaver ; he stops his loom at any moment to remove a 
knot or slug from the thread as it is woven. He is expected to turn out 
goods free from defects of this character. The system here is entirely 
different, and it is necessary to have all the threads of warp and woof as 
perfect as possible, so that there shall be no stoppage in the operation of 
the power-loom. 



_o4» 




®fr°— 



2$ 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 




V. 

Black Dress Goods. 

NLY three years ago, one of our oldest manufacturers 
made the following statement in the course of a conver- 
sation : "I scarce!}' hope to live to see plain black 
dress silks made in this country. There is no pros- 
pect of it at present. A great improvement in our 
manufacture would first be required, and I do not 
think it is possible with our comparatively high-priced 
labor/' 

The earlier successes that paved the way to the present manufacture of 
these fabrics, were won — with some exceptions — in producing goods of 
lighter hue and varied texture. It seems at first sight a paradox that 
plain black dress silks should be harder to make than the most elabo- 
rately figured goods. The reason is, chiefly, that the plain fabrics show 
every defect ; and trifling variations in the mere thickness of a thread, 
which would be quite imperceptible in goods that are overlaid with 
ornament, become strikingly apparent in an article of uniform sur- 
face. To secure a perfect equality in the threads, every one of them 
must undergo minute supervision ; and this cannot be effected bv 
machinery alone, it requires skilled labor — the most costly thing in 
America. 

A reduction in the cost of raw silk might be expected to lower the prices 
of imported goods, and thus make a competition with them more diffi- 
cult than before. But in fact the reduced cost of raw material has 
enabled our manufacturers to make experiments that formerly were too 
expensive to be tried on a large scale. Their success with a great variety 
of new goods had already given them means and confidence for fresh 
ventures. They had learned the conditions under which to use the 
power-loom to the utmost advantage, and the machinery as well as the 
processes had been greatly improved. One of the most curious and im- 
portant results attained by the practical experiments of manufacture, is 
that because of the high price of labor here, it is most profitable to use 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 29 

the best of raw material ; and hence a reduction in the cost of that 
material proves a more important factor in the total cost of the goods, 
than would be the case if inferior stock were employed. 

Our factories have gradually become better equipped and better organ- 
ized : while at the same time their owners have learned new art. But this 
is by no means all. The operatives themselves have been learning, and 
have become — unquestionably — far more skillful. They waste less. We 
are assured that each loom now turns put one-third more of finished goods 
than it did a few years ago. The saving is effected in two directions ; 
less time is consumed and less silk is wasted. This is probably the chief 
cause why some of our mills are now making fine dress silks at a profit. 

There have been, however, very marked improvements in the ma- 
chinery used in silk manufacture. Concerning these, we need not enter 
into technical detail. Most of them consist more in developing the 
capacity of machinery for various kinds of work, than in inventions 
wholly new. More important than all else is the substitution of the 
power-loom for the older method of weaving. The product of the 
steam-driven machine is, of course, mechanically accurate. When all 
the work of weaving was done by hand, labor dictated its own price and 
retarded development in this manufacture. The business of the silk 
mill was then, to a certain extent, at the mercy of its operatives. Now, 
the employer finds himself at liberty to make goods to suit his customers, 
and as he can calculate the cost with greater certainty, he is encouraged 
to attempt improvements in his fabrics. 

The system of manufacture in Europe is entirely different from that 
which has grown up in this country. Judged from our point of view the 
European manufacturer seems rather to be a mere contractor. He buys 
tram and organzine — i. e. , filling and warp — which have been made at a 
separate factory. He sends this material to another establishment, a dye- 
house. Finally, he puts it out to weavers who have looms at their own 
homes. He has no factory and no machinery. Under such circum- 
stances it is not surprising that there is little improvement in machinery 
and methods, from year to year. Our manufacturers have been obliged, 
on the contrary, to concentrate the work, so as to keep every portion of 
it under direct supervision. In several of our larger silk mills all the 
different processes referred to are conducted beneath a single roof ; so 
that the raw silk becomes finished goods under the eye of the manufac- 



30 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

turer. In some instances these mills have within their walls, rooms pro- 
vided with all tools and machinery for their own repairing and carpenter- 
ing work ; a few make nearly all their own machines. There is a marked 
disposition to try improvements in this country, and it is the general 
experience that the very best machinery, though at first far more costly, 
is in the end decidedly the cheapest. 

The European manufacturer derives certain advantages from his system. 
A considerable part of his product is made to order, thus relieving him of 
the risk of originating goods of new design which may or may not find 
favor in the market. He is not obliged to start with a great outlay for 
mill and machinery ; this leaves him free to employ his capital in pur- 
chasing yarns, and he usually buys and stores in his warehouse enough to 
supply his weavers during an entire season. It seems evident, however, 
that the division of the processes between three or four separate establish- 
ments, throwsters, dyers, weavers, and, probably, finishers, must imply 
an added cost in a profit to each. The American system is largely a con- 
sequence of substituting machinery for manual labor. The work of the 
power-loom is definite and positive ; it is not liable to defects such as 
happen to hand-made goods if the weaver's hand is unsteady in throwing 
the shuttle, or if he is careless in using the number of picks required by 
the pattern. Of course such defects can be to a great extent avoided by 
a very careful inspection of the fabric as it comes from the weaver's hands ; 
but there is certainly room for the belief of our manufacturers that the 
power-loom goods are more serviceable to consumers because more 
uniform and therefore more durable. Many minor improvements in the 
machinery have also contributed to this result within a very few years. 

It is estimated that from a fourth to a third of the plain silks and a 
much larger proportion of the brocade silks which are consumed in this 
country, are now made here. As most of our manufacturers did not un- 
dertake in earnest the work of making broad silks more than four or five 
years ago, this may be regarded as fairly rapid progress. The advance in 
this branch of manufacture within three years is greater than in any other 
department of our silk industry. The marked feature in the production 
of these goods has been their comparative freedom from adulteration by 
heavy weighting in the dyehouse. Several of our mills are winning for 
their goods an admirable reputation in this particular. The constant 
effort of European makers has been to meet a falling market with fabrics 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 3 1 

that appeared as good as formerly, but could be sold cheaper because 
really inferior. Here, for the sake of obtaining a foothold in the market, 
it was necessary to make goods as free from weighting as possible. The 
adulteration is usually performed in dyeing the yarns, before they 
are woven, and it is fully within bounds to state that all European broad 
black silks, with the exception of perhaps a very few of the highest priced, 
are thus doubled or trebled in weight. When heavily loaded, the fabric 
gives little satisfaction to the consumer. Sometimes the superfluous dye- 
stuff shows itself after a few days'' wear, in spots and blotches ; sometimes 
the dress begins to look greasy or rusty ; before long it frays and breaks 
in the folds, and then the ruin is complete. It had become a proverb 
that ll buying an imported silk is like purchasing a ticket in a lottery. " 

A humorous article in the Hartford Courant, recently described ' ' The 
Black Art in France, " as follows : 

The principal substance used for weighting the silk is iron. It is repeatedly bathed 
in nitrate of iron until it acquires the desired weight of that metal. Then it gets a blue 
tint from prussiate of potash, and then several baths of gambier and a treatment with 
acetate of iron. At this stage the silk is lustreless and dead ; but never say dye (enough) 
is the rule, and so it is made bright and lively by a logwood bath and large quantities 
of soap are added. Now comes the important question, whether the silk shall be of the 
soft and satin sort or stiff and rustling. For the former it gets a little oil and soda ; 
for the latter, acid. 

And then we have our finished goods consisting, to summarize, of iron, soap, 
gambier, potash, logwood, oil, soda, etc., etc., with silk. The two cardinal defects in 
black silk are the " wearing shiny " and the cracking. The former comes from the 
natural action of the soap and alkali, which together develop a sort of grease under 
friction ; the cracking is simply the inability of the little silk to carry its great load of 
the other products of industry that are spread upon it. It is asking too much to de- 
mand that the few strands shall act as iron mine, soap factory, and chemical laboratory 
all at once and stand the wear of practical use besides. These are requirements before 
which the English attempt to make a grocery store out of a shirt pattern is a simple and 
ordinary matter. 

Under the French treatment of silk a "little will go a great way" undoubtedly, 
for it goes thousands of miles — to the American market ; but it is about time the women 
of the country should know what they are buying when they buy these goods. Those 
women, who persist in believing they are buying tin when they get sheet iron with an 
infinitesimal coating of tin over it, and consider themselves cheated when the iron be- 
gins to show, may still believe they get silk when they get this mass of black and mel- 
ancholy dye-stuffs, mourning as it were for a lost silk-worm ; but, so long as they do, 
they are doomed to discover that black silks will not wear well. The iron will prevail. 

Most of our manufacturers claim that their broad silks are of the highest 
standard of purity. They invite a comparison on this point. We quote 
from the instructions to buyers which accompany some samples : 



32 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

" Please compare this silk with the best French goods, by raveling 
out a few of the threads from each. Test their comparative smooth- 
ness and strength by passing through and breaking over the fingers. 
In heavily dyed silk the particles of dye will make the threads feel 
rough and lumpy to the touch. Then by wetting the lint from each 
separately, the goods weighted by dye will be readily distinguished 
by the dye coming out under pressure. 

'* Another simple but effective test of purity, is to burn a small 
quantity of the threads. Pure silk will instantly crisp, leaving only 
a pure charcoal ; heavily dyed silk will smoulder, leaving a yellow, 
grea c y ash." 

Perhaps the most convenient way of applying the first of these tests, is 
to chew the filling thread of the silk to a pulp, and then to squeeze it in 
a white handkerchief. But though convenient, the method is objection- 
able as a matte of taste, where weighted goods are thus tried ; though a 
person in the habit of wiping his pen in his mouth might not find the 
loaded silk disagreeable. 

American dress goods cannot be expected to win full reputation on 
their merit at first, since they are not made to wear out in one or two sea- 
sons. But already they are acquiring a very good name. A few weeks 
ago a lady was trying to match a very old and very excellent piece of im- 
ported black silk, at one of our largest dry goods houses. The salesman, 
after carefully examining the sample, expressed a doubt about being able 
to match it. " It is first-rate silk/' he said, " and I think it is of Amer- 
ican make ; it is better than the imported." One of our more sanguine 
manufacturers declares his belief that within ten years the dress silks of 
this country will bear a higher reputation than those made anywhere else 
in the world. 






THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



33 




VI. 

Various Piece-Goods. 

UCH of what has been said of the improvement in 
plain black dress goods applies also to a great variety 
of more ornate and varied fabrics. The production 
of figured dress silks has attained large development 
within a very few years. In these articles, raw ma- 
terial usually bears a greater proportion to labor 
than in thinner fabrics. Hence in the history of 
improved manufacture, these goods began to be 
extensively made here before the plainer ones were so generally attempted 
by our weavers. The designs are mostly original, and rarely take any- 
thing more than a mere suggestion from abroad ; they change with every 
season's fashion, both as to color and pattern. Most of the alterations 
in design involve a considerable expense in adjusting Jacquard ma- 
chinery ; they are made almost without exception on power-looms. No 
mere description can do justice to the beauty and variety of these fabrics. 
Owing to improvements in manufacture and the excellence of the raw 
material, they are firm and serviceable, and at the same time marvellously 
cheap. They are adapted to a taste which eschews everything gaudy and 
extreme, while delighting in delicacy of design and purity of color. The 
earlier Jacquard machines used by our manufacturers in producing these 
goods, were imported from England or France ; the mechanism now in 
use is wholly made here, and is especially adapted to our requirements. 
The Jacquard machines remain the same in principle, but we are now 
able to run them more smoothly, to apply them to more intricate pat- 
terns, and to obtain from them a higher speed. 

In producing grenadines and satins, the improvements have been 
equally striking. Goods are made which combine features that were once 
entirely distinct. Thus, for instance, at first sight it would seem that 
nothing could be more widely separate in manufacture than the open web 
of grenadine — a fabric which might be likened to lace — and satin, whose 
smooth, impervious surface might class it with close-woven cloth. But 



34 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

che ingenuity of the weaver has long since bridged the gulf between these 
fabrics, and produced grenadine with satin stripes. Then came a further 
combination, adding a brocaded pattern which permeates both the net- 
work of the grenadine and the sheen}' surface of the satin. The effect of 
these and other combinations is in general to give "richness" to the 
fabric, and perhaps to justify a remark which foreigners have made as a 
criticism — that "Americans don't seem to be afraid of their silk." 
Neither the operatives nor the machinery of former years could have pro- 
duced the finer grades of damasse dress goods, and the combinations of 
gros-grain, satin, brocade and grenadine which may now be required by 
fashion. To classify these various combinations and describe the differ- 
ent results separately, is, if not outside of the scope of the present work, at 
all events beyond the ability of its writer. 

In some of the older families of this country there are preserved a few 
specimens of early attempts at making satin goods from home-raised silk. 
A comparison of those relics with the products of the present day brings 
the improvement into clearer light. The thread which makes the surface 
of satin or brocade, is now more thoroughly tied down than formerly ; in 
the best goods it no longer "floats " when the fingers are drawn across it. 
A solidity and evenness has been conferred on the fabric, which renders 
it at once more compact and more durable. While they were in fashion, 
some excellent upholstery satins were made here and found ready sale. 
They attracted attention from foreign visitors — experts — at the Cen- 
tennial Exhibition, and were highly commended in respect to color and 
finish. These were decidedly " broad goods, " being fully sixty-four 
inches in width. 

We should like at this point to say something about velvets made in 
this country ; but at present it would have to be as brief an account as 
the famous chapter on the ' l Snakes of Ireland : There are none. " 
A few velvets have been made here at intervals, and in different localities. 
Good judges have spoken well of these specimens, but the manufacture 
has not yet been found profitable. There seems to be an opportunity 
not yet seized, for the invention of labor-saving machinery in the produc- 
tion of silk velvets, since the old methods of making them are slow and 
very cumbrous. 

The process which is called "finishing" or "re-finishing" is of great 
importance in preparing piece-goods, and is, as its name implies, the final 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 35 

operation. It is itself a distinct branch of business, and requires special 
machinery as well as knowledge and experience. The " re-finisher" has 
succeeded in demonstrating to most of our smaller weaving concerns, and 
also to some of the largest, that this work can be better done in an es- 
tablishment devoted to the purpose, than in the regular silk mill. 

Heavy calendering machines and hydraulic presses of 300 tons' power 
are used in re-finishing silk fabrics. The pressure has to be variously ap- 
plied, according to the effect required, and the calender rolls can be grad- 
uated from a squeeze of five pounds to one of 60,000. There are some 
goods that have to go through hot rolls and some through cold ; and dif- 
ferences in the surfaces of the rolls may convert plain silks into striped 
ones, or change them to moire antique. Brocades, fancy silks and satins 
must undergo the re-finishing process, as well as gros-grain. Indeed, the 
effect is more striking with figured than with plain goods. A brocade 
flower, for instance, in passing through the proper amount of pressure, gains 
a definiteness of outline and a pictorial character that were previously 
wanting. Satin requires the highest pressure to bring out its full lustre, 
and though the most difficult of fabrics to manage in finishing, it best re- 
pays the labor. With many fabrics, a liquid dressing has to be applied to 
the surface, and in some instances a fire-box must follow the dressing in 
order to dry the liquid so quickly that it will not strike through to the 
other side. 

The re-finishing business began with imported goods. These are 
sometimes damaged on their voyage, and require to have their freshness 
renewed. A more frequent occurrence is that the fabrics need to be mod- 
ified so as to meet a change of fashion. In some seasons ladies have 
wanted their dresses to have a certain crispness, and then they required 
"hard silk ;" at other times only the silks which feel softest in handling, 
could be sold. Either of these results can be reached in the finishing 
processes, which have immensely improved within a very few years. Amer- 
ican silks are found to need a treatment different from that which is suit- 
able for imported goods, and the best method could only be ascertained 
by new experiment. The results now will bear comparison with foreign 
work, and a business has been created which will, if it continues, justify 
its experiments and outlay. 

No difficulty is found in producing in this country excellent marcelines, 
florentines, serges, satin de chine, and the various fabrics used for linings. 



36 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

Only a small portion of the thread is floated in serges, but it adds to the 
variety in their colors and patterns. Promptness in adopting any new 
ideas as to the style of these goods has given our manufacturers some 
advantages over their foreign rivals, but the chief point made is, that the 
American linings wear longer, because they are of purer silk. This is 
another instance where excessive loading with dye-stuffs and the use of 
inferior raw silk, on the part of European manufacturers, have so hurt a 
trade as actually to reduce the consumption. There is now, however, a 
marked revival of confidence in respect to such fabrics made here ; and 
as to those which are imported, European dyers have offered to stipulate 
for goods to be guaranteed as of equal purity with the American. 

One of the evidences of deterioration in foreign silks which is most 
generally recognized by the public, is the difficulty of obtaining a silk 
umbrella that has lasting qualities. The rapidity with which these 
articles split in the fold and resolve themselves into sticks and rags, has 
been of late years quite abnormal. But there is reason now to hope for 
better things. At least two of our manufacturers have successfully un- 
dertaken to solve the problem of making umbrella silk that will last two 
years or more — instead of as many months — with ordinary usage. The 
fabric which seems best adapted for this purpose is known to the 
trade as ' ' levantine, " and is specifically different from taffetas and serges ; 
from the latter it may be distinguished by the absence of stripes in the 
warp. American weather is rather hard on umbrellas, but some of them, 
made here from ferule to handle, have survived the equinoctial storms of 
successive years, and are still fit for service. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



37 




VII. 

Spun Silk. 

HERE are two distinct methods of treating the product 
of the silkworm. If the filament of the cocoon can 
be unwound from it as • a continuous fibre, it is reeled, 
and is known in commerce as "raw silk." If for any 
reason the filament of the cocoon cannot be reeled, it 
must be spun. The raw material which is to be 
manufactured into spun silk, bears the general name 
of "waste silk." 

Some popular misapprehension has arisen from the use of the term 
"waste," as applied to this raw material. It suggests the erroneous 
notion that the foundation of spun silk goods is a kind of shoddy. 
Nothing could be farther from the fact. Shoddy is a material obtained 
by tearing into fibres, goods previously manufactured. That process is 
not applicable to silk goods, and no shoddy is made from them. After 
raw silk has once been twisted into a thread, it cannot be torn asunder 
and produce anything of value. 

Actual fibre is required for spun silk, though not of such length and 
continuity as that which can be reeled. Even if the manufacturer of 
spun silk makes use of a low grade of "waste," he is not able to spin 
from it anything but the fibre, and the simple result when he uses inferior 
stock, is that he must take a much larger quantity of it to provide a 
given amount of useful silk. The residue, which has no fibre, is of no 
service in manufacture, and is all loss. 

There are several sources of so-called "waste" silk. Perforated 
cocoons furnish the chief supply. These have been pierced by the 
moth, which exudes a fluid that softens the thread at one end of the cocoon 
so that there the insect can push its way out. There are also cocoons of 
irregular formation, from which the silk cannot be wound. Another 
large source of supply is known as "filature waste" or "frisons. " This 
consists chiefly of the tangled thread or floss on the outside of the 
cocoons, and the waste made in winding from them. Lastly, there is 
" mill waste, " which is raw silk more or less broken or tangled in the 
earlier operations of the silk mill. The only essential feature which dis- 
tinguishes waste silk from other raw silk is its want of continuity of fibre, 



38 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

which prevents its being reeled. It has to be straightened and ungum- 
med, and then is carded and spun by methods similar to those employed 
with flax and cotton. When this is done, the spun silk is of about the 
same value as reeled silk in the gum. Waste silk, indeed, kept its 
price during the whole of the past year, during a period in which reeled 
silk fell in value at least 25 per cent. 

The processes of manufacture in spun silk are just as delicate and 
trustworthy as those of cotton spinning. The material passes through a 
series of different machines, some of them marvels of ingenuity ; and 
when ready for spinning, looks like the whitest of combed fleeces, 
except that it has a brilliant lustre, similar to that of spun glass. It is 
then of such perfect uniformity that the thread to be made from it can 
be produced with absolute mathematical accuracy, of any required size. 
This uniformity, which can always be depended upon, gives more dura- 
bility to a fabric than if it were wholly made of reeled silk. 

Great improvements have been made in the manufacture of spun silk, 
so that the goods are better than formerly, in every respect. The best 
effects are obtained by using the lustrous reeled silk to give the surface of 
the fabric, and the spun silk to give the body. In some European goods 
that have recently come to this market, the arrangement is reversed ; 
they have a spun warp and reeled filling. The object in these cases is 
to secure a dead surface with a lustrous figure ; and a stiffness of fabric is 
also attained, which is supposed by purchasers to be an evidence of good 
silk. These fabrics supply a fresh indication that spun and reeled silk 
are more and more becoming interchangeable factors in the manufac- 
ture ; a condition to which their near approach in values contributes. 

Since almost every variety of fabric that is made with reeled silk has its 
counterpart in articles more or less composed of spun silk, it follows that 
the direction which fashion gives, controls both equally. The novelties 
called forth by a season's transient demand must be produced in time for 
that occasion, by the spun silk manufacturer. For this purpose, however, 
he does not copy foreign designs ; at most those can only offer to him 
general suggestions. It has been found, in fact, that copying is rarely 
profitable ; the most marked success has frequently attended the produc- 
tion of purely original designs. The risk of such novelties falls wholly 
upon the manufacturer ; he can only rely on his own judgment and his 
general knowledge of the tendency of the prevailing fashion. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



39 



It is claimed for fabrics partly or wholly made of spun silk, that they 
fill a place of their own in the market. They supply a cheap and at the 
same time a serviceable material. The purchaser gets silk that is pure — 
not loaded with dye-stuff. There are only two methods of making very 
cheap silk fabrics ; one is to weight the material with chemicals that will 
give it weight and showiness in general, hiding its want of actual silk. 
Such goods give little satisfaction to the wearer. Their defects soon be- 
come apparent ; ' ' there is no wear in them. " The other method of 
making cheap silks is to substitute spun for reeled silk. By such means 
goods can be made that are fairly within the reach of slender purses, and 
will do good service to the w r earer ; goods that can be sold as cheaply as 
are the weighted fabrics. Spun silk can be adulterated with heavy dyes 
quite as easily as reeled silk ; suffice it that such is not the practice here. 
All the spun silk fabrics made in this country are what are classed as 
"pure dye ;" the pound of raw material coming from the dyer's hands 
with no additional weight except what is requisite to give a good color 
and body to the fabric. 

The improvements that have been made in the management of spun 
silk in manufacture are such that its comparative want of lustre is far less 
apparent than was the case a few years ago. Especially is this true of the 
products of the Jacquard looms, the brocades and damasse silks in 
general. White and very light brocades, such as are suitable for ball and 
wedding dresses, are among the most recent and ambitious efforts of this 
manufacture. They are of absolutely pure silk, and are so lustrous that 
even an expert would not be able to distinguish them from reeled silk 
fabrics, except by a critical examination. The advantage to the purchaser 
of such goods may be briefly stated : in appearance and actual worth for 
wear, they are equal to brocades that are selling at $3 to $4 per yard ; 
they are sold at half those prices. Fashion seems now tending toward 
heavily flowered brocaded silk, such as used to adorn our grandmothers. 

A feature of this branch of business is the production of printed goods. 
In this the improvement of recent years is very striking ; satins, for 
instance, printed in colors, have to the eye the same richness of effect as 
if they were made by the more costly process of the Jacquard looms. 
In Europe, printing is done with little blocks, a few inches square, which 
are slowly and more or less imperfectly used in hand-work. Here, 
ingenious machinery is employed, printing many colors at once. A 



40 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

machine for this purpose requires a special steam-engine to drive it, in 
order to have it under absolutely accurate control as to speed, pressure 
and registry. Patterns that cannot be perfectly matched by hand, may 
be turned out faultlessly by such machinery. 

Ribbons known to the trade as ' ' schappe, " which are wholly of spun 
silk, were first made in this country. Now, they are largely produced 
abroad, the Swiss giving us the compliment of imitating our designs and 
labels. The foreign ribbons make a good appearance, but their stock is 
inferior and they do not wear well. If made abroad of equally good 
quality, ribbons of this class could not be sold here at a profit. 

The raw material that enters into silk fabrics in this country would be 
considered extravagant in European manufacture. It is an unquestion- 
able fact that there is more silk for the same money in American goods 
than in those which are imported. We compete to more advantage in 
the heavier fabrics than in the lighter ones, because in the latter the labor 
is the chief item of cost. But we are also the gainers in competition for 
trade in heavy goods, because of a deservedly better reputation.- The 
popularity of silk goods had been seriously endangered by the practice 
of weighting, and dress silk in Europe no longer holds the place that it 
did as an elegant and permanent fabric. So far as American buyers 
have been dependent upon imported silks, the same distrust has extended 
here. It remains for our manufacturers to overcome that distrust by 
continuing to supply goods of standard purity. We now surpass Euro- 
pean makers in the durability of our silk goods. A permanent command 
of our own market is to be attained chiefly by the good reputation of our 
fabrics, and by keeping them up to the standard. But not for a moment 
can the manufacturer safely rest on his laurels ; he must ever design 
novelties, adopt or invent improvements, and anticipate the constant 
changes of fickle fashion. 

Spun silk no longer hides itself b3hind other goods. It claims 
equality, on the ground that durability and uniformity make up for 
whatever may be wanting in lustre and beauty. The deficiency in these 
latter features is now very slight ; in some classes of goods it is scarcely 
discernible. Spun silk fabrics are not made or sold as cheap imitations 
of reeled silk ; they stand on their own merits, and are just what they 
profess to be; a durable and low-priced, not a poor or adulterated article. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



41 




VIII. 

Handkerchiefs , &fc. 

NTIL comparatively recent years the use of silk pocket- 
handkerchiefs was regarded by most people in this 
country as extravagant luxury. The possessor of such 
an article was seldom willing to admit that he had pur- 
chased it ; it had been presented as a Christmas gift or 
a token of affection. It was only brought out on 
grand occasions, and when somewhat wornout was care- 
fully treasured for use in giving the finishing touch when 
brushing a silk hat, or for a yet more important service in case its owner 
should happen to contract a severe influenza, and find his nostrils more 
than usually tender. 

The more general use of silk handkerchiefs in the United States began 
about eight years ago, and was largely accelerated by the Centennial Ex- 
hibition. These goods were entire novelties to thousands of visitors from 
all parts of the country. One manufacturer is said to have sold, at that 
Exhibition, not less than 25,000 handkerchiefs, all of a single class, and 
generally of two or three colors. Some of the visitors from far distant 
States were rough-looking customers. The father of a family, for instance, 
was going about without a coat ; perched on his shoulder was a child, 
about four years old ; two daughters accompanied him, just ripening into 
maidenhood, and so bashful that they scarcely dared to touch the goods 
offered for their selection. "I've come 1,500 miles to see this show,'' 
said the father, as he laid down a $50 bill, preparatory to purchase. 
Each member of the family chose handkerchiefs of a different pattern, and 
as if laying in a stock to last some years. When those people went home 
and showed the goods to their neighbors, they created a demand for silk 
handkerchiefs in that distant locality. This instance of the creation of 
business by the Exhibition, is only one of thousands that were not so cir- 
cumstantially noted. It is calculated that the whole trade in silk hand- 
kerchiefs was advanced at least two years, by the Philadelphia display ; 
the total increase of sales since 1873-4 being now nearly five-fold. 

At the present time the handkerchief — whether for women or for men 



42 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

— most frequently starts in its career of usefulness as a dress ornament, a 
scarf, a neckerchief. When partly soiled, or after its first washing, it 
usually descends to the pocket ; though some of the inferior grades are 
apt to serve as a mere necktie, and even as a substitute (at the West and 
South) for the collar, being cooler, cheaper and more convenient. Its 
various uses and its low price have doubtless given the silk handkerchief 
its popularity, and the consumption of these goods was not diminished 
during the hard times from which the country is now emerging. 

These articles, made in this country, have only recently acquired their 
good reputation. Not much more than five years ago a leading buyer of 
silk handkerchiefs declared in so many words, "I don't want any Amer- 
ican goods ;" and at that time a retailer could scarcely be induced to put 
them on his counter. Now, it is not unusual for a purchaser to ask for 
American-made handkerchiefs, and the prejudice against them has wholly 
disappeared. The complaint most frequently urged against the foreign 
goods was that they were too flimsy. The handkerchiefs which best 
meet the demand here have been more substantial and solid. Brocade 
handkerchiefs are often made with four or five different colors ; the pat- 
terns change rapidly with fashion, though one of them had a run of two 
years. The figures of these goods have a notable hardness to the touch, 
being well bound down in the process of weaving — a result of improve- 
ment in machinery and in the arrangement of the harness of the loom. 
Printed handkerchiefs have also been greatly improved and share the 
general favor. 

It is not a long step from handkerchiefs to scarfs and neckties, and 
millinery goods in general. The variety of texture in these fabrics is to a 
novice almost appalling. The foundation may be as open as grenadine, 
or of the closest weaving ; and the combinations with satin and brocade 
figures are endless. Most of this branch of industry has come into ex- 
istence here within a very few years. One manufacturer describes its 
growth as starting, in his experience, with making stuff for men's neck- 
ties like the Crefeld goods, of silk warp and cotton filling, about the 
years 1869-70. Many hardships were encountered in creating the busi- 
ness. The first lots when sent out to the trade, to be cut up into ties, 
were returned to the maker as wholly unsatisfactory. After various trials, 
he resolved to cut up the goods in his own factor}*, and he afterwards 
gradually established a trade in the completed neckties. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 43 

The fashions change so rapidly in millinery goods that it is only in rare 
instances that an article has a long run. The looms must at frequent 
intervals be overhauled and harnesses be changed to produce novelties. 
These rapid changes scarcely give opportunity for perfecting the methods ; 
better goods of any given kind could doubtless be made with longer prac- 
tice. The expense of the needed alterations is heavy, and adds to the cost 
of the fabrics which fashion specially demands. On the other hand, if 
there seems to be a good prospect for steady sale of a special article, many 
mills will be set at work upon it, and a sharp competition will reduce the 
price. Between these rocks the producer of millinery silks must steer or 
be wrecked. In Europe there are fewer difficulties of this kind to be 
avoided ; there is far less enterprise in preparing for novelties, and a con- 
siderable proportion of the goods is made to order. 

Since our manufacturers are willing to make these quick changes to 
meet fashion, they gain thereby an advantage over foreign rivals. A pur- 
chaser who buys his milliner}- silks abroad for this market must expect to 
get many patterns and shades that will be comparatively unsalable, along 
with those which hit the fashion. Mere consignments from abroad, not 
selected by American buyers, are largely of styles that are no longer in 
request. In either case the importer expects to close the season with auc- 
tion sales and sacrifices. Mean while the American manufacturer can stop 
his production of any given article as soon as there are symptoms of its 
becoming unfashionable. It is not easy to estimate whether the importer 
or the home manufacturer has to take on the whole the greater risk. It 
will be seen, however, that the stock of American goods is more likely 
to be in the fashion than those which come from abroad. 

The standard of taste gradually becomes higher and more exacting in 
this country, and the changes we have referred to call for constant improve- 
ments in the arts of manufacture. The fabrics of three years ago appear 
to-day so inferior that we wonder how they could have found sale. But 
though the goods have improved so greatly, their prices are lower, and in 
this branch of the trade as in others, wherever the home manufacturer 
has somewhat supplanted importation, a home competition has kept down 
the cost to consumers. 



44 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 




IX. 

Ribbons. 

HE manufacture of silk ribbons in this country was of 
lowly origin. About the year 1861 it began with 
taffeta ribbons, plain, and of the broader widths. It 
was undertaken not as a regular manufacture with a 
view to direct profit, but merely as a matter of con- 
venience to fill deficiencies in importation. When, 
for instance, there was a lack of taffeta ribbons of a 
blue shade, that color happening to have been more 
in demand than usual, the importer thought it possible that the needed 
supply might be secured more quickly here than it could be ordered and 
obtained from abroad. So the early manufacture was a mere experiment, 
with the hope that it would make the imported stock of ribbons more 
desirable by filling the gaps. There was no idea of competition with 
goods made in Europe. Of course, it always happened that whatever 
was most fashionable, and hence most desirable, was the first to become 
scarce. Two or three months would be required to fill a given line of 
goods by importation ; two or three weeks might be time enough to make 
them here. 

So, the experiment being tried and often repeated with success, a 
regular manufacture was at length organized. But for a long while only 
the broader ribbons were made, because the narrow goods require the 
most labor in proportion to the amount of silk. Stated in round num- 
bers, the broad ribbons first made were at least 40 lines in width. Only 
within three or four years have the narrower ribbons been attempted ; 
now, seven lines in width is not unusually narrow for manufacture here. 
A line is the twelfth of an inch. 

The high price of gold during the war-period operated almost as a 
prohibitory tariff, and checked the importation of foreign ribbons. 
This gave an opportunity to our manufacturers to organize their work, 
and stimulated them to found mills and buy machinery. Different 






THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 4 5 

classes of work were successively undertaken. The order of develop- 
ment of the industiy has been somewhat as follows : 

Plain ribbons, taffeta. 

Plain ribbons, gros grain. 

Satin ribbons, single-faced, plain. 

Satin and gros grain ribbons, double-faced. 

Two-toned satin ribbons — i. e. , satin with two colors, one on each side. 

Fancy ribbons, Jacquard work. 

Some of the relations of these different articles to each other may be 
mentioned as showing the line of development. The gros-grain rib- 
bons were an outgrowth from taffeta, by making the filling more heavy. 
The two-toned satin touched the highest point in harness-work (armure)- 
The demand for ribbons of such a high order indicated that the more 
elaborate productions of the Jacquard loom would find favor. Harness- 
work is by its nature limited to patterns that are more or less right- 
angled in their details ; Jacquard work can follow any curve of outline, 
and has been employed for all sorts of pictorial reproductions, such as 
leaves, flowers, birds, landscapes, portraits, &c. Pictures in silk, pro- 
duced by machinery of this sort before the eyes of the visitors, were 
among the most attractive things of the Centennial Exhibition. Fashion 
has required, within a year or two, a variety and richness in patterns, 
unknown before ; and the weaving of Jacquard ribbons has thus been 
fully developed here. 

All the ribbons now made in this country are the product of power- 
looms. This is not true of European manufacture. We began, how- 
ever, by buying English power-looms : these were rapidly improved 
upon, so that the good points of French, Swiss, and German methods of 
weaving were reproduced in our more rapid machinery. Such quick 
adoption of any improvement, no matter where originating, is charac- 
teristic of this country; it is rare in Europe, because there the people of 
each nation have a prejudice against methods that to them are foreign. 
Having now the best power-looms in the world, our mills turn out 
ribbons that are of a perfect uniformity, the same in one part as in 
another ; a result that could never have been attained by the most 
careful hand-work. 

The market for our ribbons was not obtained without difficulty. They 
were at first derided as " domestic trash." The entering wedge was 



46 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

found in supplying special colors. The tables are so perfectly turned 
now, that it is only inferior ribbons — principally schappe and taffeta — 
that are imported in any considerable quantity. The foreign manufac- 
turers compliment us by imitating American tickets, trademarks, and 
designs. ' ' Have you anything new in broche ribbons ! " asked one of 
our countrymen of a Lyons manufacturer. ' ' Alas ! " was the reply, 
' You can make in America anything that we can. ,; As fashions gene- 
rally originate in Europe, it might be supposed that foreign designs 
would be followed in this country. Such, however, is not the fact. 
The styles that originate abroad are made up usually, to suit several 
different markets ; they are rarely intended for America alone. Our 
goods on the contrary are made exclusively for the home market ; the 
ribbons must suit the taste of American ladies. The guidance of foreign 
fashion can only be followed in a general way, and not often in its great 
extremes of pattern or color. Nearly all the designs for American rib- 
bons originate in our factories, frequently months in advance of the 
introduction of the goods into the market. These designs have excited 
admiration abroad as well as at home ; they are works of the artist rather 
than of the mere artisan. The novelties of pattern and design compel 
changes and improvements in machinery ; and better goods result. 

The statements which have been made elsewhere in this volume, of 
the comparative purity of American silk goods in respect to freedom 
from heavy dye, and as to superiority of the raw silk used, are applicable 
with special force to the ribbon manufacture. The loss of trade in 
foreign ribbons must be in large measure attributed to their being over- 
weighted, and of inferior silk. This is, of course, most noticeable in 
black ribbons, and our manufacturers have taken the opposite course 
with great success, their gros grains being remarkable for purity of dye 
and strength of stock. 



cats^yVbTiSfca 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA, 



47 



c/TT^ 



£2)Q 



x. 




Trimmings and Passementerie. 

HERE are several minor divisions of the trade in fringes, 
trimmings and passementerie. Of these the most 
prominent are — 

Ladies' dress and cloak trimmings, 

Milliner}' trimmings, 

Hatters' and furriers' trimmings, 

Upholster}' and military passementerie, 

Coach trimmings. 

We shall not, however, adhere very closely to these distinctions. In 
regard to the most important class of fringes, it should be mentioned 
that their manufacture begins in the mills where sewing-silk and machine- 
twist are made. What is called ' l two-thread fringe silk, " is sewing- 
silk, and ' ' three-thread fringe silk " is machine-twist. The ' ' fringe silk" 
is put up in large skeins and sold to the makers of fringes, ■who are 
classed as manufacturers of trimmings. ' The marked success that has 
been attained in this country in making sewings and twist, applies also 
to fringes, and for the same reasons. The raw material is much better 
than that used for such purposes in Europe, and there is far less adulter- 
ation practised here in dyeing. Our manufacturers can in this branch 
of trade, as in others, afford to use good stock, because it gives less waste, 
can be worked more quickly, and altogether requires less labor, than 
inferior material. The improvements of machinery have also helped in 
making better fringe silk. 

In this instance, our goods have, to a great extent, obtained the repu- 
tation that is their due. The retailer has learned to say to his customers, 
' ' If you want the best, you must buy American fringes. " The chief 
defect in imported fringe is its want of durability, due to overloading with 
dye, or soap and other substances used to give an appearance of solidity. 
Fringes made of French cordonnet or schappe silk are especially liable 
to such adulteration. When worn, they become rotten by exposure, 



48 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

and soon drop off the garment to which they are attached. European 
fringes are usually made of cordonnet, and very rarely of good sewing- 
silk ; the reverse is generally true of the American goods. Ladies have 
learned, in purchasing, to test the strength of fringe by pulling out a 
thread and breaking it. The simple methods of testing whether the 
silk is overloaded with dye-stuff, which are described in the chapter on 
dress goods, will also serve to detect adulteration in fringes, some of 
which (imported) have been found to weigh eighty ounces to the pound 
of actual silk ! 

It used to be considered necessary where great elegance in dress was 
required, to have this class of trimmings selected in Paris. Now, how- 
ever, it has ceased to be true that " They do such things better in France. " 
The fringe may be required to match a given dress, which itself is a 
novelty in color and structure ; in general the changes of style have con- 
tinually called for more elaborate and difficult work, and our manufac- 
turers have responded to the demand by successive improvements. 
There are still a few of the more elaborate fringes, made by old, laborious 
methods in Europe, which have not been reproduced by our quicker 
machinery ; but they can be made here whenever they are called for 
sufficiently to warrant the outlay. It is calculated that a sixth of all the 
raw silk imported into this country is absorbed in making fringes and 
passementerie. 

Furriers as well as modistes require for their productions silk trimmings 
of various kinds, including fringes, tassels and cords. The tassels made 
for ladies' garments are wholly of silk ; those meant for other purposes 
frequently have a core of cotton. Of cords there is a great variety, for 
many different purposes ; a hatter, for instance, requiring cord of a style 
wholly unlike that which would be needed for trimming a dressing-gown ; 
there are now made double-faced cords, braided cord, and tubular braid, 
which would have been beyond the capacity of our factories only a few 
years ago. Many varieties of braid are used for the purpose of ornament- 
ing fringes. Crochet and other passementerie buttons are made in this 
country to a limited extent, but the business is not profitable except 
where specialties are demanded, because the duty on imported button- 
cloth is exceedingly low. 

It may be stated in a general way that comparatively few goods of the 
foregoing classes are now imported, except what are called "ladies' 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 49 

passementerie, " which may be described as a sort of gimp or garniture 
made of cord and frequently ornamented with beads, 

A sermon might be preached concerning the black braid that is more 
or less used to trim the edges of men's cloth coats. Several years ago, 
such trimming was very fashionable. The makers of the braid — in 
Europe — saw fit to adulterate it largely, and succeeded in getting into it 
more dye-stuff than silk. The public gradually made the discovery that 
silk braid did not wear well, soon becoming brown, frayed, and generally 
shabby. Men began to insist that there should be no braid upon their 
coats. The result was, as expressively stated by a dealer, that ' ' the trade 
in black braids was as dead as Julius Caesar. " At this point one of our 
manufacturers undertook to make a pure braid out of good sewing- 
silk. The new article had to encounter all the prejudice which the old 
stuff had created. There was imported braid that could be sold for one- 
sixth of the price of the American goods ; yet the latter slowly won their 
way in the market, and have secured a demand which is at present 
steadily increasing. 

The manufacture of upholstery, military, church and coach trimmings, 
including specialties for benevolent and secret societies, has for many 
years had a firm footing in this country. There is an almost endless 
variety of such goods ; among them are braids, cords, bindings, tassels 
and passementerie beyond all enumeration. There was a time when all 
articles of this kind came from England ; but that period has almost faded 
out of recollection. They are made here because ingenious machines 
have been contrived that largely dispense with hand-labor. The action 
of some of these machines seems almost life-like ; fingers of steel spring 
out and catch the moving strands, and turn, twist and combine them in 
the most marvellous way. In one great factory where most of this work is 
carried on, there is a complete machine shop, where the mechanism that 
performs these marvels is constructed, and a measure of secrecy concern- 
ing it is thus attained. A " cord-walk" is there, of dimensions compar- 
able with the old-fashioned rope-walks, where a large order for a new 
style of cord can be executed in two hours. As to the variety of designs 
required in the business, a single example will suffice ; the record of man- 
ufacture includes a thousand different patterns of coach laces. 

Among small wares, the article called "knitting-silk" may be included, 
though it is made by the sewings and twist manufacturers. It provides an 



50 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

excellent pastime for ladies, enabling them to knit silken hose, mitts, 
&c., in otherwise idle moments. To what extent knitting-silk will take 
the place of the proverbial " green lion on a red ground " in Berlin wool, 
it is of course impossible to say ; at present the new diversion is growing 
in favor rapidly. The material is soft and fine, somewhat like embroider}' 
silk, and slightly twisted. It is wound on spools, but so amply that they 
look more like balls. A box of these contains a large variety of colors 
and delicate shades. This silk is to be knitted with the ordinary knitting 
needles, and many Boston ladies have become very expert in the perform- 
ance. As the labor of knitting is not to be accounted, it will be easily 
seen that a neat article for a present can thus be made at small expense 
to the giver ; about two ounces of silk, costing perhaps $i. 50 to $2.00, 
serving for a pair of stockings that could not be purchased ready-made at 
less than $5 to $8. We foresee a time when a favorite clergyman will be 
provided by his flock with stockings as well as slippers. 




THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



5 1 




XI. 



Silk Laces. 

HE manufacture of silk lace is so recent in this country 
that its whole history nearly falls within the ten-year 
period which we have arbitrarily taken for review. 
The business has, however, in a single instance ex- 
panded sufficiently to give employment to some hun- 
dreds of working-people. Their labor is light so far as 
muscular effort is concerned, but requires dexterity, 
good eyes, and assiduous care. A large amount of 
damage may be effected in a few seconds by carelessness or incompetency. 
The raw silk used in making lace must be of the most uniform charac- 
ter, and hence a preference is given to that which has passed muster in 
the conditioning houses of Europe. According to the kind of lace to be 
made, the thread has to be of a definite thickness, which ranges for dif- 
ferent laces from " singles" or merely doubled cocoon-threads, up to 
substantial silk yarns. The raw silk is converted into "singles," yarns, 
&c. , in this country, at mills that make a business of ' ' throwing " silk, 
but not at the lace factory. 

In other fabrics, holes are a defect ; in laces the holes are the chief 
element of beauty. In plain laces and nets the outline of the holes or 
spaces determines the class of the goods ; and regularity in the form 
of these apertures is the first thing that strikes the eye. The figures of 
the more elaborate laces may be said to be formed by the process of filling 
some of these holes according to a pattern. To these general statements 
there are certain exceptions. A few laces have meshes so small that the 
fabric appears continuous, like woven goods. On the other hand, some 
laces (as, for instance, guipure) are made up entirely of figures united by 
ligaments; and have no web or "foundation" in spaces which the fig- 
ures do not fill. 

Lace-making machines are large, costly, and intricate. No attempt 
will be made here to describe them, except to state that they differ es- 
sentially from a weaving loom in the fact that they have no shuttle trav- 



52 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

elling lengthwise. That flying instrument is replaced by an extraordi- 
nary number of little disks, which move a few inches to and from a spec- 
tator standing in front o f the loom , that is to say, their motion is at right 
angles to that of an ordinary shuttle. The thread carried by each disk, 
passes first to one side and then to the other of each warp thread and 
thus forms a sort of knot at each intersection. The process is more 
nearly similar to knitting or crochet-work, than to weaving. In proof of 
this similarity it may be noted that nubia shawls of worsted are made on 
the lace-machines, and present every appearance of handiwork with the 
crochet-needle. The result is that lace goods have an elasticity which 
cannot be attained in a woven fabric. A piece of silk net, for instance, 
can easily be pulled to double its natural length, without injury The 
traditional lace shawl could be passed through the wedding ring. People 
with even the largest hands will find lace mitts that stretch so as to cover 
their utmost needs. 

Fashion controls in the style of laces. Ten or twelve years ago a net 
for the hair was an indispensable appendage of every civilized female in 
America. When Metz and Paris were besieged, there was a sudden in- 
terruption of the chief supply of hair nets to this country, our manufac- 
ture of those articles being then quite limited. For a brief period there 
was a "corner" in hair nets, and the lace machines were kept running 
night and day. Some years have elapsed since then, during which all 
the hair nets found their way into ash-barrels. Now the fashion has 
again changed ; the nets are once more in demand, but this time we shall 
not be dependent upon a foreign supply. 

At first nearly all the business of the lace mills here was in open-work 
goods, of which the filena scarfs are a fair example. As the manufacture 
improved, the plain lace or net began to bear ' ' spots. ' ' To borrow the 
language of astronomers, the spot-period rose gradually from a minimum 
to a maximum, beginning with little open rings — penumbrae, as it were, 
which afterwards were bridged across, and at last being completely filled, 
became true spots, well defined. Then these spots slowly expanded into 
the characteristic figures of different styles of lace. It will be no news to 
fair readers, if some of the distinctive features of different laces are here 
presented, but it may be news that such laces are made in this country, 
by machinery, and of the finest silk. It certainly was news in a court- 
room not long ago. The case on trial related to duties on lace goods, 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 53 

and specimen laces were presented and examined by experts. Expert 
No. i pronounced a certain sample to be hand-made lace, of European 
production. Expert No. 2 said that it was the finest of machine lace, 
and must have been made in Calais, France. Expert No. 3 declared 
that it was the product of a factory in the United States, and as the pro- 
prietor of that factory happened to be in the court-room, he was called 
up, and testified to having made the goods in question. At present there 
is no kind of machine lace, of silk, which cannot be made in this coun- 
try ; and the price is lower while the quality is better than the imported 
article. The competition which our laces have brought to bear against 
the European fabrics has, however, lowered the prices of the latter, and 
thus the consumer is effectually benefited. All of the famous laces have 
thus been imitated. Among them are the elaborate "thread laces," 
with a groundwork of fine net, and the familiar leaf patterns ; each leaf a 
wonder of transparent, delicate tracery. The purls or little loops which 
ornament the edges of this lace, and a sort of ripple at certain points 
which is produced by reversing the motion of a knitting-needle, used to 
provide infallible tests for distinguishing hand-made from machine work; 
but now there are no differences of that sort which are discernible. The 
"purl lace" is, indeed, all serrated with purls. A great deal of clipping 
has to be done with some of the machine laces, to cut away superfluous 
threads carried by the machinery from one point to another, across the 
web. An examination by a magnifying glass of the stumps of these 
clipped threads might sometimes determine the mode of manufacture, 
but this test cannot apply to purl lace, as it is not clipped at all, its super- 
fluous threads being drawn. Blonde lace has a well-defined pattern, and 
a groundwork which is a little coarser than thread lace. Spanish lace is 
coarser throughout, and more heavily overlaid. The honeycomb spaces 
of Brussels lace give it a noteworthy regularity of texture. Many laces, 
such as torchon and Smyrna, are chiefly peculiar in their patterns. Val- 
enciennes differs from all others in having its threads plaited or braided 
instead of being twisted or knotted ; this is most observable in the figured 
portions, and can best be seen with a magnifying glass. All the guipure 
laces are of heavy thread and figures ; it has been mentioned that they 
have no groundwork or web ; it may be added that they do not undergo 
any clipping. For a long while laces with deeply scolloped edges have 
borne sway. We may not be more moral, but we are to be more straight- 



54 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

laced than our predecessors, since fashion calls for Bretonne lace, to 
which purls and scollops are unknown. It is in this lace that the most 
recent improvements have been made by the manufacturer. 

By the natural expansion of a successful trade, the sale of our laces is 
gradually extending outside of the home market, and they have found 
their way into Canada in the face of a tariff duty, and in competition with 
British fabrics. There are, however, some features of the home market 
which must give it greater permanency than an export trade. Many of 
our lace goods are made in colors, to meet the transient wants of fashion, 
and the laces have to match the delicate hues of the goods they overlay. 
For this purpose an exactness in shades is required. The changes of 
fashion in respect to these shades are sudden, and as difficult to anticipate 
as the varying tints of an evening sky. The importer of European goods 
is at a disadvantage compared with our manufacturer in meeting this 
capricious demand. 

Some of us who have a tender love for old china and genuine hand- 
made lace experience a feeling of subdued anger at the thought that such 
precious things can be imitated by soulless machinery. This indignation 
is not reciprocated by the manufacturers of machine-lace. They would 
gladly see the making of hand-lace more widely introduced and practised 
in this country. The importance of such an industry may be conceived 
from the fact that it gives employment to 130,000 women and girls in a 
single province of France. We suppose that the ladies who are thor- 
oughly conversant with pillows and points in the United States may easily 
be numbered, and will not reach high in the hundreds ; but as an indus- 
trial occupation, lace-making is almost unknown among our country- 
women. Whatever may be the improvements in machinery, hand-made 
lace is sure of maintaining its superior value. If it were more largely 
made in this country, it would be more largely worn by the wealthier 
classes, and their imitators would require more of the imitation laces. 
Such, at least, is the reasoning of a manufacturer of machine-laces, and 
it furnishes him with a selfish excuse for a liberal view of the subject. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



55 




XII. 

Dyeing. 

ARIETY in colors seems to be more required now than 
formerly. The range of tints supplied to our grand- 
mothers was comparatively narrow ; the dye-stuffs were 
few, and could only be used to advantage in certain 
ways. The art of dyeing was traditional, and its re- 
cipes were handed down- in families. Now, it comes 
within the domain of science, and its discoveries sooner 
or later become common property. 
In purity, brilliance, delicacy and variety, the colors used to-day far 
surpass those that suited our ancestors. In permanence, the new hues 
have not been so satisfactory, but they are improving. " True blue,*' 
and "Dyed in the wool," have become proverbial phrases for honor and 
honesty. There is a chance for a similar sentiment in respect to "Pure 
black," and "Dyed in the yarn.'*' 

Silk goods, foulards excepted, are not dyed in the piece. There is, 
however, a small amount of re-dyeing done with piece-goods, more 
especially as to imported articles, arriving in unsalable colors. Few 
foulards are made here. They are, specifically, goods made of yarns 
that have not been dyed, usually of reeled silk warp and spun silk filling ; 
they are frequently designated as ecrus (unbleached) : their colors are often 
applied by stamps, and if by dyeing, it is always done in the piece. 

The rapid succession of discoveries in the aniline colors has put aside 
both the traditions and the secrecy of the dyer's art, while supplying an 
infinite variety of hues. The improvement in the colors of silk goods 
by the use of the anilines is one of the great features of progress in 
recent years, and can scarcely be overestimated. These dyes are now 
used to produce every tint, shade and color that may be required for 
silk, except pure black. Upholstery goods are now the only ones in 
which the new colors are not the invariable rule. It is expected that 
aniline black will eventually be applied to silk, and from time to time 
announcements have been made of success in that direction, though as 
yet it is not achieved in this country. 



56 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

While there is really no limit to the variety of tints that can be made 
with the aniline colors, there are, of course, some bounds to the require- 
ments of trade and fashion. The dyer usually prepares for each season 
an assortment, designated as "new colors," and comprising about 300 
different shades. From these the silk manufacturer can often select the 
tints of which he wishes to have his yarns dyed ; but it frequently 
happens that some intermediate shade is needed, and perhaps as many 
more " colors " as are at first offered, will be required in the course of a 
season. A single fabric may be composed of strands of many colors, 
and the tendency of fashion has latterly been toward such styles. Cer- 
tain goods — for instance, swivel cloth — may have figures of a color 
wholly different from the ground. Last Fall there were ribbons in 
vogue which required the use of five or six shuttles, each carrying a 
different color; and there is, of course, occasion for similar and even 
greater variety in the hues of the warp-threads. 

Doubtless, the novelties in color that are presented, stimulate taste in 
in that direction. The brilliant series of aniline pinks, scarlets, reds 
and crimsons that preceded cardinal, helped that color to the favor it has 
met with so steadily since its introduction. Next to the reds, the blues 
are most appreciated. Americans have, however, always admired the 
" red, white and blue," and we may mention, in passing, that the manu- 
facture of silk flags is a considerable branch of industry, which received 
a great impetus in 1876, and has not since languished. At present the 
post of honor among fashionable colors is held by "gendarme blue," 
(which, strictly speaking, is a bluish green) such as appears in the 
"eye" or ring of a peacock feather. An expert in these matters has 
estimated that there are at least one hundred definite shades of color in 
a peacock's tail. After the reds, blues and greens, next in popular favor 
come the olives, browns, straw-color, and golden yellow. At the Cen- 
tennial Exhibition a dyer exhibited the solar spectrum in colored silks, 
with fine effect, using about 100 different shades for the purpose. 

The display of American silk goods of all kinds at Philadelphia was in 
general more brilliant in color than that of corresponding articles from 
Europe. This fact will appear of some importance, when we consider 
its causes. The American goods were fresh ; some of them were not dyed 
till the last week before being placed in the show-cases. The foreign 
goods had suffered the disadvantage of an ocean voyage, of more handling 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 57 

in packing and unpacking, and perhaps, of longer exposure to light be- 
fore starting. It is believed that fabrics lose color while in the hold of a 
vessel at sea. Persons accustomed to judge of colors perceive at a glance 
a marked difference between goods that have been thus transported and 
those that are newly dyed. As bearing on this point it is alleged that 
French cordonnet yarns are brought here ' ' in the gray " to be dyed, be- 
cause their colors thus obtained are brighter than if they were dyed abroad. 

The loss of freshness is not confined to fancy colors ; it is noticeable 
even in black dress silks. Perhaps it is not wholly due to the voyage. 
All the operations of manufacture are conducted more slowly on the 
other side of the Atlantic than here, and there are credible instances of 
European goods being six months on the loom. Exposure to light dur- 
ing weaving does certainly have a marked effect, and some experts claim 
that they can see a difference between the product of a loom which is 
near an unshaded window, and one in a darker part of the factory. 
Granting the correctness of these statements, it would seem to follow that 
all imported silk goods are more or less damaged ; but we should hesi- 
tate to make such an assertion. 

When anilines were first introduced, more than twenty years ago, the 
fault was generally found with them, that they lacked permanence. That 
defect has been measurably removed. With every year the dyers have 
learned better how to make such colors ' ' fast. " The more delicate a 
shade is, the more fugitive it is likely to be, and since the anilines ex- 
ceed all other tints in delicacy, the difficulty of fixing them is by so much 
the greater. But all colors, even those solid and sombre ones that were 
made in olden times, if applied to textile fabrics, fade somewhat by ex- 
posure. The most that we can hope for the new colors is that they will 
be made as "fast" as the old ones, and this, the dyers say, is a result 
already almost reached. They claim it now, for their reds. 

In the choice of colors Americans are fastidious. The ladies insist 
upon certain harmonies of hue in their apparel, more strenuously than 
Europeans. If fashion prescribes some outre shade or a bizarre mixture 
of tints, it may be accepted abroad, but in our Atlantic cities it must be 
toned down to moderation. It is said that more careful and accurate 
matching of colors is required here than in Europe. This applies to all 
kinds of silk goods — sewing silk, fringes, millinery and trimmings. It 
is not so evident why a similar taste should be expended on silk linings, 



58 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

which are destined to be hidden from view when in use ; but even these, 
whether for male or female wear, must be of choice colors. 

The chemical dyes are imported, and are the best of their kind ; 
better, it is said, than Europeans use for their own silks. A part of 
the black dye is made in this country from native woods, and is highly 
commended. 

The school in which most of our older manufacturers learned what 
they know about dyeing was in making sewings and twist. The black 
dye was more difficult to perfect than the colors, but their success was at 
last complete. Nevertheless, similar trouble was experienced when black 
dress silks first began to be extensively made here. But the dyeing of 
those fabrics has so decidedly improved within' a few years, that it is 
claimed now to be fully equal to the best in Europe. As to weighting 
with excess of minerals, let it not be supposed that our dyers are ignorant 
of the art. If our manufacturers want loaded silks, they can have them 
weighted in this country, to order. In most instances, however, they 
may safely repeat the famous comment of Mark Twain upon the legend 
asserting that Washington couldn't tell a lie : "I can, but — I won't." 




As a part of the history of recent advances in the industry under 
review, the Seventh Annual Report of the Silk Association of America 
is herewith presented. This summarizes the progress made during the 
past year in the silk manufacture of this country, and gives valuable 
statistics relating to the trade. An address concerning a project for a 
Franco-American treaty, and a reply to the same, are included in the 
report. 



SEVENTH 



Annual Report 



OF THE 



Silk Association 



OF AMERICA. 






mM,:t-m 




Wednesday, May 14th, 1879. 



THE 

$ilk Sj^odiktiort of SiDeridk. 

OFFICERS, 1879—1880. 

President, 

FRANK W. CHENEY, - Hartford, Conn. 

J Ice-Presidents. 

A. B. STRANGE. New York. 
WM. RYLE, - - 

ROBERT HAMIL, - - Paterson, N. J. 

Treasurer. 

S. W. CLAPP, - - - New York. 

Directors. 

F. 0. HORSTMANN, - Philadelphia, Penn. 

B. RICHARDSON, - New York. 
GEO. B. SKINNER, - Yonkers, N. Y. 
IRA DIMOCK, - - Hartford, Conn. 
WM. STRANGE, - - - Paterson, N. J. 
J. WEIDMANN, ----- Paterson, N. J. 

JOHN N. STEARNS, - - - New York. 

WILLIAM SKINNER, - Holyoke, Mass. 

SETH LOW, ------ New York. 

GEORGE H. BURRITT, - - 

L. BAYARD SMITH, - 

MILO M. BELDING, - 

D. O'DONOGHUE, - 

A. G. JENNINGS, ----- Brooklyn, N. Y. 

LOUIS FRANKE, - - - New York. 

C. LAMBERT, ----- Paterson, N. J. 
JOHN T. WALKER, - - - - New York. 
JOHN D. CUTTER, - Newark, N. J. 
HERMAN SIMON, - Town of Union, N. J. 
S. M. MEYENBERG, - - - - New York. 

Secretary. 

WM. C. WYCKOFF, - .- - 44 Howard Street, N. Y. 



LIST OF MEMBERS 



OF THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA 



1879. 



Armstrong, Benj. A., - - - 469 Broadway, New York City. 

Aub, Hackenburg & Co., - 20 North 3d Street, Philadelphia, Penn. 

Auffmordt, C. A. & Co.. 33, 35 Greene Street, New York City, N. Y. 

Belding, Milo M., - - 456 Broadway, 

Belding, A. N., - - - - - Rockville, Conn. 

Belding, D. AY, - - - - - - Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Belding, H. H., - - - - - - Chicago, 111. 

Bernstein, Samuel, - - 479 Broadway, New York City, N. Y. 

Boettger, Henry W.,- - 47 Mercer Street, " " 

Boissiere, E. Y. de, - - Williamsburgh, Franklin Co., Kansas. 

Booth, James, ------- Paterson, N. J. 

Bottum, C. L., - - - - - Willimantic, Conn. 

Bowman, John A., - 40 Summer Street, Boston, Mass. 

Bridge, Frederick, - 32 Burling Slip, New York City, N. Y. 
Brown, H. L., - - - - - - Middletown, Conn. 

Burritt, George H., - - 32 Burling Slip, New York City, N. Y. 

Busch, Peter, - cor. Grand and Mercer Street, " " " 

Buzby, J. E., - - - 54 Beaver Street, 

Caswell, John C. & Co.,- - 87 Front Street, 

Caula, Victor, _____ Jersey City Heights, N. J. 

Chaffee, O. S. & Son, - Mansfield Centre, Conn. 

Chaffonjon, C, - Hudson City, N. J. 

Cheney, Frank W. , - - - - - South Manchester, Conn. 

Cheney, Knight D. , - 

Cheney, James W. , - " ' •' 

Cheney, John S. , - - - - - " " <l 



66 



THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 



Cheney, Richard O., - 
Cheney, Harry G. , 
Clapp, S. W., 
Copcutt, Wm. H. & Co., 
Cutter, John D., 
Dimock, Ira, 
Dunlop, John, 
Eaton, E. W., - 
Eldridge, Henry, - 
Fenner, A. B., 
Fogg, Wm. H., 
Franke, Louis, - 
Fukui, M., 
Funke, Hugo, 
Gerson, Julius, - 
Gibbcs, A. H., - 
Givernaud, Louis, 
Grimshaw, John, 
Graham, J. C, 
Grant, James, - 
Hadden & Co., 
Hall, L. C, Jr., 
Hamil, Robert, 
Harris, W. J., - 
Hayes, Thos. F., - 
Hayden, J. H., 
Hill, A. G., 
Horstmann, F. O., 
Hovey, F. S., 
Itschner, W. & Co., - 
Jennings, A. G., - 
Jennings, Warren P., 
Johnson, Rowland, 
Lambert, C, 
Lathrop Bros., - 
Lockhardt, C. F., - 
Low, A. A., 



- South Manchester, Conn: 

7 Mercer Street, New York City, N. Y. r 

- - - Yonkers, N. Y. 

329 Broadway, New York City, N. Y. 

100 Church Street, Hartford, Conn. 

Paterson, N. J. 

1 9 Mercer Street, New York City, N. Y. 

- 435 Broadway, " " " 

Central Village, Conn. 

32 Burling Slip, New York City, N. Y. 

489 Broadway, 

58 Walker Street, 

- 19 Greene Street, 

94, 96 Thomas Street, 

93 Wall Street, 

46 Howard Street, 

- - - - - - Paterson, N. J. 

525, 527 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, Penn. 
143 Duane Street, New York City, N. Y. 
33 Chambers Street, " " " 

- 6th Street, cor. Arch, Philadelphia, Penn. 

Paterson, N. J. 
527 West 2 2d Street, New York City, N. Y. 
5-9 Union Square, " " " 

Windsor Locks, Conn. 
Florence, Mass. 
Fifth and Cherry Streets, Philadelphia, Penn. 
248 Chestnut Street, " " 

- 233 Chestnut Street, . " " 

428 Broome Street, New York City, N. Y. 

- 428 " " " " " 

54 Beaver Street, " il " 

Paterson, N. J. 
- Northampton, Mass. 
^l Leonard Street, New York City, N. Y. 
31 Burling Slip, 



THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 



67 



Low, Seth, - 
Low, Ethelbert M., - 
Low, A. Augustus, 
Ludwig, E., 
Lyman, Joseph, 
Meyenberg, S. M., 
Milton, W. F., 
Morgenroth, Gust. A., Jr., 
Murray, Russell, 
O'Donoghue, D., 
Paul, Frank, 
Pelgram & Meyer, - 
Phipps, Walter T. , 
Richardson, B. , 
Richardson, F. G., 
Richardson, Geo. P., 
Rossmassler, Richard, 
Ryle, Wm, 
Ryle, Wm. T., 
Ryle, John C, - 
Scott, John J. , 
Seavey, S. W. C, 
Silbermann, J. & Co., 
Simes, Chas. F., 
Simon, Hermann, 
Simon, Robert, 
Simonds, J. H. , - 
Skinner & Co. , George B 
Skinner, William, 
Smith, Benj. D. , 
Smith, L. Bayard, 
Smith, S. K., 
Smith, L. O., 
Stanton, W. A., - 
Stearns, John N., 
Stearnls, Henry K. , 
Stelle, L. R., 



- 3 1 Burling Slip, New York City, N. Y. 

- 31 " 

- 19 Mercer Street, 

3 1 Burling Slip, 
40 Lispenard Street, 
159 Maiden Lane, " " " 

159 
68 Greene Street, 

- T i i i i ic a i 1 

- r* 1 

- 16 Bonaventure Street, Montreal, Canada. 
- 57, 59 Greene Street, New York City, N. Y. 

56 Worth Street, 

- 5 Mercer Street, 

( i (i si a a 

D 

- Cincinnati, Ohio. 
319-323 Garden Street, Philadelphia, Penn. 

- 54 Howard Street, New York City, N. Y. 

-Paterson, N. J. 



- Canton, Mass. 
2 1 Mercer Street, New York City, N. Y. 

46 Howard Street, New York City, N. Y. 
Town of Union, N. J. 

- Warehouse Point, Conn. 
-27 Mercer Street, New York City, N. Y. 

Holyoke, Mass. 
113 Water Street, New York City, N. Y. 
77 William Street, 

Pittsfield, Mass. 
- 238 Market Street, Philadelphia, Penn. 

- Chicago, Ills. 
458 Broome Street, New York City, N. Y. 
458 " " " " " 

Sauquoit, near Utica, 



68 



THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 



Strange, A. B., - - 42, 44 Greene Street, New York City, N.-Y. 
Strange, Theodore A. , - 42, 44 Greene Street, " " " 

Strange, Wm. ,-------- Paterson, N. J. 

Struss, W. H., - - - 489 Broadway, New York City, N. Y. 

Takaki, Samro, Consul of Japan, 7 Warren Street, " " " 

Tilt, Albert, -------- Paterson, N. J. 

Van Winkle, Stephen, - - . - - - " " 

Walker, John T., - - 81 Pine Street, New York City, N. Y. 

Walter, Richard, - - 472 Broome Street, " " " 

Warner, Luther J. , - - - - - - Northampton, Mass. 

Weidmann, Jacob, ------ Paterson, N. Y. 

Wetmore, Ciyder & Co. , - 74 South Street, New York City, N. Y. 
Wilson, H. B,, - - 33, 35 Greene Street, " " 

Wood, Payson & Colgate, - 64 Pine Street, " " 



HONORARY MEMBERS. 



Allen, Franklin, 
Dale, Thos. N., - 
Haywood, George M., 
Mackay, J. P., Sec'y, - 



113 East 23d Street, New York City, N. Y. 

Paterson, N. J. 
90 Franklin Street, New York City, N. Y. 

Paterson, N. J. 






Secretary's Report. 



In conformity with the by-laws of the Association, the Secretary has 
the honor to submit the following report, prepared under direction of its 
Board of Government, and presenting a review for the past year of the 
transactions and the condition of the Silk Association of America. 

The past twelve months in the silk industry of this country have 
witnessed no great failures, and, on the other hand, no instances of 
remarkable prosperity. Perhaps it is with industries as with nations ; 
they are happiest when they furnish little material for history. The main 
reason why there have been fewer vicissitudes in the business than in 
previous years, is because there has been less disturbance than usual at 
the hands of Congress. Since the defeat of the Wood Tariff bill, there 
have been no serious attempts to alter the duties on imports. From 
the experience of the past year we can form some notion of how much 
more securely and satisfactorily business could be conducted, if the tariff 
policy of the country were fairly permanent. 

An almost continous decline in the prices of raw silk has taken 
place during the greater part of the year. The market has recently 
become firmer at the same prices as those of February, which were at 
a lower point than had been reached during thirty years, and very far 
below those which ruled from 1865 to. 1872 and during the excitement 
of 1876. The fall of values in the past year on the different kinds of 
raw silk was from 20 to 30 per cent. , and at that point it now (May 
14th) remains. The unsettled condition of European affairs and the 
slender prospect of good prices for silk fabrics gave the chief occasion for 
the decline ; the crops of raw silk having been fairly up to an average, 
though not unusually large. It is probable also, that a lack of accurate 
knowledge of the stock on hand in Continental Europe has helped to 
bring about this result. Statistics on this point have been imperfect and 
have helped in creating misapprehensions. That was the chief cause of 



70 THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 

the great fluctuation in 1876 ; the past year probably began with a mistake 
in underestimating European stocks, and ended in overestimating them. 

More silk has been consumed in manufacture than during pre- 
ceding years. This has been quite notably the case in this country, 
where the imports were greater by 38 per cent, than in the previous 
twelve months, and 20 per cent, over 1876 ; it was also true of England, 
and even the conditioning-house at Lyons recorded increased receipts, 
though the trade of France was not considered prosperous. Tables 
are appended, showing the receipts of raw silk at the ports of New York 
and San Francisco, by months, for several past years, and also exhibit- 
ing the separate amounts from Japan, China and Europe. A new 
feature in the currents of trade has been the increase of importation of 
raw silk from Asia through the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean, 
direct to New York. As the greater part of the Asiatic invoices come 
across the Pacific Ocean, and thence are brought hither by rail, it follows 
that silk has been travelling simultaneously two opposite ways around the 
world, though starting from the same point and going to the same 
destination. 

There has been a large increase in the receipt of raw silk from 
Japan. The quality has not, however, been quite satisfactory in all 
instances, owing to a want of care in preparing this silk for the market. 
The defect has been specially noticed in respect to the Kakedas. The 
silk from the best filatures is not open to this criticism. The de- 
servedly good repute of Japanese silk was only won a year or two ago 
by diligent effort; it can be lost even more rapidly, by carelessness. 
The importations from China have also increased during the year, but 
the silk has not improved in quality, being adulterated at least as much 
as hitherto. The export of silk from Hong Kong to our ports was nearly 
twice as great as in 1877, and 16 per cent, over 1876; from Shanghai, 
it was 60 per cent, over 1877, and 30 per cent, over 1876 ; from Yoko- 
hama, it was 148 per cent, over 1877. European raw silks have been much 
depressed in prices and relatively cheaper than the Asiatic product, during 
the past year. 

With the decline in the value of raw material, manufactured goods 
have become cheaper. It is not, however, so easy to make a compari- 
son of their prices, because the fabrics made by most of our weavers 
differ in kind from those of previous years, being produced at greater 



THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 71 

expense in machinery and labor. The decline of prices is most notice- 
able in the sewings and twist branch of the business, and is brought 
about by an exceedingly keen home competition. It seems to be an 
invariable rule in the silk trade, that whenever our manufacturers in 
any branch attain control of the domestic market, so that foreign com- 
petition ceases, a sharp rivalry at home keeps down prices and profits 
effectually. The want of harmony thus indicated between members of 
the trade is a subject for regret. It brings, however, a few consolations. 
In view of the fact that along with the exclusion of foreign goods there 
is always a lower price established for the domestic product, there is no 
room for the fallacious argument of opponents of the tariff, that a pro- 
tective duty makes goods cost more to the consumer. 

Although the amount of raw material used during the year was larger 
than before, the total value of goods made was not much greater. Es- 
timates, based on rather slender returns, indicate that the decline in pri- 
ces has nearly offset the increased production. 

The absence of tariff excitements and the lowering of the prices of raw 
material have permitted our manufacturers to make many costly experi- 
ments and improvements during the past year, which were demanded by 
marked changes of fashion. The general tendency in woven goods has 
been toward work of a higher grade, richer in silk and more elaborate 
in pattern. 

This may be most readily illustrated by the course of the ribbon 
trade. The year opened with a demand for satin gros-grain ribbons. 
No marked confidence was felt in this demand, and few manufacturers 
were willing to assume the expense of altering looms to meet a want that 
was supposed to be transient. A ribbon of this class was regarded as too 
heavy for summer wear, and hence, unlikely to be called for as the season 
advanced. But the demand continued and gradually increased. Mean- 
while gros-grain ribbons began to be neglected, and could only be sold 
at reduced prices : in the Fall they were almost superseded by the new 
fashion. A richer class of goods was then required. Two-toned ribbons, 
satin on each side, but one side striped, came largely into vogue ; and 
fancy ribbons were also much sought for. Some of the manufacturers 
who had not anticipated such demands, did not alter their looms to make 
double-faced goods till early in the present season. 

The mills have been very fully employed during the year, but the 



72 THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 

great expense of altering machinery to meet the new requirements, and 
the decrease in value of the goods on hand, have proved serious drawbacks. 
At the beginning of the present season there was a sudden and decided 
demand for figured and jacquard work, and among fancy ribbons, ful- 
some containing tinsel threads. There had never been any great call for 
ffoods of these classes before, and few of our manufacturers were at first 
prepared. Now, nearly all of our mills are equipped to produce these 
articles, but a steady demand for such goods will be necessary to reim- 
burse the outlay in machinery. 

The depreciation in the value of gros-grain ribbons has continued 
until prices have been reached that are lower than the cost of manufac- 
ture. There are symptoms of a slight recovery of value, however, in 
view of the gradual exhaustion of the stock on hand. It is a home com- 
petition along with the absence of demand that keeps down the price 
below the margin of profit; the foreign ribbons do not seriously interfere. 
What has been said of ribbons is true in a general way of several 
other branches of silk manufacture. Our mills are now capable of 
making a great variety of costly and elaborate goods which were never 
before attempted in this country, and nearly all the new improvements 
are devised for use with power-looms. But this capacity for work has 
been attained at great expense, and the question of ultimate profit or 
loss is in many cases still open. 

A decided advance has been attained in the production of dress silks. 
There are more of them made, and the goods are of a higher class 
than ever before. In point of purity — freedom from overloading with 
dye — these fabrics have no competitors. If they are steadily kept up to 
this standard, there is every prospect of their displacing the loaded silks of 
Europe in our market, by supplying a better and hence a cheaper article. 
Two or three years ago a manufacturer at work on broad silks was some- 
what a rarity ; now nearly all our weaving mills are producing such goods. 
There has been a marked improvement in grenadines, both figured and 
satin-striped. Many novelties have been required in woven fabrics of 
every kind, and also in laces. It seems to have been a peculiarity of 
the changes of fashion in all departments of the silk trade during the year, 
that they entailed heavy expense for alterations at the factories. 

Compared with the other large industries of the country, the silk 
manufacture has been remarkable for the steadiness with which it has 



THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 73 

kept its operatives at work. In Paterson, for instance, it is claimed that 
one-fourth of the entire population is employed in this industry, and 
statistics have been published which seem to prove this statement. There 
have been no strikes of importance — none worthy of record. The 
demand for cheapness of fabrics, which is characteristic of the present 
period in all textile industries, has been met in our silk mills by more 
skillful work, greater economy, less waste; and this result has been 
partially brought about by the improvement of the operatives, who have 
learned better how to perform their duties. In all departments, the 
home competition has been sufficiently severe to keep down prices, 
and silk goods never were cheaper. The wages paid to operatives here 
are very much higher than those paid for similar work in Europe, after 
making liberal allowance for the difference in the cost of living— which 
is not now nearly so great as formerly. We are assured that many of 
the frugal working-people in our silk mills are laying aside a fair portion 
of their earnings, as is shown by the records of the savings banks. Most 
of the men were originally immigrants from Europe. Having now full 
employment for themselves and families, they make the most valuable 
kind of American citizens — people who earn their living. 

The Silk Association of America has a pleasant record of its own 
affairs to lay before its members. In previous years the custom has pre- 
vailed of raising about two-thirds of the income for its support, by calling 
on the members for contributions. This was felt as a heavy burden, 
latterly falling upon a few concerns whose liberality had to be largely 
taxed. With the beginning of the present financial year, a change was 
resolved upon — -to base the support of the Association on the regular dues 
of members. The difficulty of carrying out this intention was somewhat 
increased by the expense of removal from the old office to the present 
quarters, and of double the former rent. 

The removal to 44 Howard Street has proved of decided advantage to 
the Association, giving an office that is nearly twice as large as the old 
one, is more easily accessible, and is in the neighborhood of a great 
majority of the members who have offices in the city. The weekly and 
monthly reports and the general work of the office have been kept up to 
the full standard of efficiency. The active membership of the Associa- 
tion—the number of members that actually pay their dues — has been 
doubled within the year. By close economy in expenditures, the pro- 



74 THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 

gramme of keeping within the income from memberships has been prac- 
tically carried out. The finances of the coming year can be put on an 
equally satisfactory basis, if there is a further increase of membership to 
meet some additional expenses, and to provide for a few resignations due 
to changes in business. 

WM. C. WYCKOFF, 

Secretary. 



At the annual meeting of the Silk Association of America, held on 
Wednesday, May 14th, 1879, at No. 44 Howard Street, N. Y., the fore- 
going report was read, accepted, and ordered to be printed. 



Statistics. 



A brief explanation of the following statistics may contribute to their 
usefulness. There are two tables of the imports of raw silk at the ports 
of New York and San Francisco : the quantity that arrives elsewhere in 
the United States is inconsiderable. The number of sales as stated in 
the tables is accurate ; their valuation, as furnished by Custom House 
returns, is probably only approximate. The smaller table of imports of 
raw silk is brought down to a later date than the Secretary's report, and 
indicates the proportion of the supply derived from different sources. 
The chart of raw silk prices shows vividly the great fluctuations in the 
value of that material, though not including the very recent rise. 

The tables of imports of silk manufactures at the port of New York 
shows that, on the whole, these imports are not largely increasing, year 
by year, and that in certain lines they are falling off. With the revival 
of general prosperity among consumers, we may, however, expect an 
increase in the importation of all articles of luxury for a few years to 
come. In drawing deductions from the figures of this table, two things 
should be considered ; first, the values assigned are those of the invoices, 
and are made as low by the importers as the Custom House authorities 
will permit ; it is believed, in fact, that the goods are largely under- 
valued. The official reports of investigating commissions appointed by 
the U. S. Government have estimated the undervaluation as on the 
average not less than 25 per cent. Second, the duty paid on these 
goods, and the importers' profits, should be added to the invoices, in 
any calculation of the value of these imports in the United States mar- 
kets. Of all the silk goods brought into this country, 94 to 95 per cent, 
come to the port of New York. 



7 6 



THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 



Three tables are presented, showing the total exports from France of 
silk manufactures. The first of these covers a period of half a century, 
and exhibits a remarkable decline in recent years. The next table, 
naming the countries to which France has exported silk goods from 1868 
to 1877, will serve to show in what directions her trade has increased, 
and in what diminished : the changes have arisen from many and com- 
plicated causes. Another table distinguishes the classes of silk goods 
embraced in French exports during the period last named, and is exceed- 
ingly suggestive. 

The tables of United States exports to and imports from France 
furnish data that may be of service, in case the Franco-American treaty 
project should require any further consideration. 

The table of United States imports entered for home consumption, 
shows distinctly the sources of the public revenue from Customs duties. 
It will be noticed that silk goods stand third in the list of articles contri- 
buting to that revenue. 



THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 



77 



Fluctuations of Raw Silk 



London Prices : by H. Zweifel & Co. 



Upper line, waved, 
Middle line, 
Lower line, dotted, 



Best Italian Organzine. 
Japanese Maibash. 
Chinese Tsatlee III. 





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73 



THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 



IMPORTS OF RAW SILK AT THE PORTS OF NEW YORK 

AND SAN FRANCISCO, 

From April 1st, 1878, to June JOth, 1 8 7 p. 







From. 

England and 

Continent. 


Japan. 


Hong Kong. 


Shanghai. 






BALES. 


BALES. 


BALES. 


BALES. 


1878. 


April, - 


2 55 


223 


Il8 


403 




May, 


J 52 


188 


240 


452 




June, - 


95 


145 


308 


420 




July, - - 


85 


I02 


79 


249 




August, 


185 


121 


54 


264 




September, 


276 


3°5 


145 


538 




October, 


137 


343 


522 


73 l 




November, 


179 


404 


529 


821 




December, - 


330 


436 


54i 


392 


1879. 


January, - 


123 












February, 


533 


535 


611 


814 




March, - 


483 


368 


172 


332 




April, - 


224 


34o 


427 


360 




May, 


2 53 


121 


204 


33° 




June, - 


613 


240 


380 


674 


Total in 15 months, - 


3>9 2 3 


3,871 


4,33o 


6,780 



Compiled by the Secretary of the Silk Association of America. 



THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 



79 



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EXPORTS OF SILK MANUFACTURES FROM FRANCE. 

TOTALS FOB 50 YEAES. COMPILED FKOM OFFICIAL EECORDS. 



VALUES IN MILLIONS OF FRANCS. 


Years. 


Plain Silks. 


Figured 
Silks. 


Mixtures of 

Silk with 
other Textile. 


Silk 
Ribbons. 


Sundry 
Silk Goods. 


Total Silk 
of 

all kinds. 




Millions. 


Millions. 


Millions. 


Millions. 


Millions. 


Millions. 


1827 


. 51.8 


19.7 


4.0 


24.4 


I5.9 


II5.8 


1828 


5I.O 


lZ.3 


4-8 


27.5 


13.8 


II5-4 


1829 


46. I 


17.4 


6.8 


26.5 


14.3 


III. I 


1830 


5i-3 


I9.O 


5-9 


22.9 


I2.0 


III. I 


1831 


59-6 


17.8 


4-7 


24.3 


I2.9 


JI 9-3 


1832 


5i-3 


17.7 


5-i 


28.2 


9-5 


106.8 


1833 


69.4 


21.4 


4-7 


3°-7 


12.7 


138.9 


1834 


53-4 


17.7 


4-7 


2 3-3 


13.0 


112. 1 


1835 


63-3 


24.7 


5-9 


33- 2 


*7-3 


144.4 


1836 


59-9 


24.7 


5-8 


32.8 


16.9 


140. 1 


1837 


38.2 


I2.9 


5-4 


22.4 


11. 4 


9°-3 


1838 


60.3 


21.3 


3-9 


34-6 


*9-3 


139.4 


1839 


59-8 


25.I 


5-2 


35-3 


15-4 


140.8 


1840 


60.4 


28.8 


6.6 


2 9-3 


16.8 


141. 9 


1841 


61.4 


40.2 


8.9 


34-2 


17.4 


162. 1 


1842 


43.8 


28.5 


8.4 


19.8 


11. 6 


112. 1 


1843 


48.8 


34-2 


8.7 


23.8 


14. 1 


129.6 


1844 


54-3 


33-° 


11. 1 


3 1 -! 


14.2 


143-7 


1845 


50.0 


34.8 


n-5 


31.6 


13.0 


140-9 


1846 


53-i 


3 1 -! 


10.9 


35-i 


16.4 


146.6 


1847 


54.2 


33- 2 


11. 1 


3^-3 


14.2 


149.0 


1848 


60.3 


18.2 


8-3 


41.7 


10.8 


139-3 


1849 


84.4 


29.2 


12.6 


50.4 


16.2 


192.8 


1850 


104.0 


32.5 


18.3 


68.8 


22.9 


246.5 


1851 


113.6 


27.7 


14.4 


55-8 


28.1 


239.6 


1852 


121. 9 


34.o 


16.8 


75-5 


31-5 


279.7 


1853 


151.7 


44-4 


28.6 


in. 8 


3 2.8 


37^,3 


1854 


122.0 


33-7 


23.0 


96.6 


36.0 


3^-3 


1855 


141. 7 


39-2 


19*0 


116.8 


41.6 


358.3 


1856 


178.8 


72.0 


18.9 


I 3 I -9 


52.3 


453-9 


1857 


170.6 


75-5 


24.7 


112. 4 


52.3 


435-4 


1858 


156.2 


57-o 


22.9 


95-5 


47.0 


378.6 


1859 


201.2 


66.1 


41.6 


136.8 


54.2 


499-9 


i860 


212.8 


49-6 


6 3-9 


70.3 


58.2 


454.8 


1861 


162.3 


26.5 


59-2 


44-3 


41.0 


333-3 


1862 


I 93- 1 


29.6 


59-7 


47-3 


33-^ 


3 6 3-5 


1863 


221.4 


3°-3 


33- 1 


49.1 


3 6 -4 


370-3 


1864 


270. 1 


24.3 


25.2 


47-4 


41.2 


408.2 


1865 


289.7 


12.3 


17. 1 


67.2 


42.2 


428.5 


1866 


309-9 


7.0 


15.0 


88.2 


47- 6 


467.7 


1867 


293.8 


9.1 


18.4 


61. 1 


40.0 


422.4 


1868 


3 2 3-3 


7.6 


21.0 


56.8 


43-o 


452.7 


1869 


312.9 


3-7 


15.9 


77-5 


37-3 


447-3 


1870 


3-51-7 


4.0 


J 9-5 


64.6 


45.2 


485.0 


1871 


316.3 


4-3 


15.6 


113.6 


33- 2 


483.0 


1872 


3i7-% 


1.8 


19.5 


5 J -4 


47-2 


437-7 


1873 


35i-5 


2 -7 


23.1 


55-4 


45-8 


478.5 


1874 


3 2 3-o 


l >5 


11. 9 


42. 1 


37-5 


416.0 


1875 


278.8 


4-3 


19.6 


34-6 


39-3 


376.6 


1876 


197.7 


7-5 


27-5 


20.2 


42.8 


295.7 


1877 


!53- 6 


7-4 


36.6 


19.2 


58.3 


2 75- 1 



82 



THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 



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THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 



83 



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84 



THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 



UNITED STATES EXPORTS TO FRANCE AND FRENCH 

DOMINIONS. 

Year ending "June 30, 1877. 



Not Paying Duties. 


Cotton, - 


$25,450,839 


Lard and tallow, - 


3.769,59 2 


Breadstuff's, 


2,772,400 


Tobacco — leaf, 


2,755,206 


Meat, salt and fresh, - 


2,397,297 


Copper, 


1,880,000 


Staves, woods and tim- 




ber, - 


684,246 


Raw hides and skins, 


335,900 


Lard oil and whale oil, 


168,165 


Clover and other seeds, 


148,886 


Chief articles, 


#40,362,531 


All other non-dutiable 




articles, except specie, 


652,257 


Total, 


$41,014,788 



Paying Duties. 



Petroleum, Kerosene, 


1 

1 


&c, 


$3,484,057 


Agricultural and othei 




machinery, 


372,969 


Fish — salted, cured, &c. 


169,986 


Whiskey, rum, &c. , 


166,391 


Hops, 


145,294 


Wooden manufactures 




and furniture, - 


89,216 


Chief articles, 


$4,427,913 


All other dutiable * 




articles, including 




$455> 6 33, no- 




where particular- 


947, 5 1 2 


ized, except as 




manufactures, 




Total, 


$5,375,425 



Summary. 



Non-dutiable U. S. exports, 
Dutiable 



$41,014,788 
- 5,375,425 



Total exports to French dominions (exclusive of specie), $4 6, 3 90, 2 1 3 



THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 



IMPORTS INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM FRANCE. 

Year ending jfune 30, 1877. 



Not Paying ] 


Duties. 


Paying Duties. 


Raw silk, - 


$1,017,339 


Silk, manufactures of, 


#12,709,992 


Argols, - 


890,756 


Wool, 


7,735,440 


Drugs and Chem- 




Leather and manufactures 




icals, 


620,048 


of, including gloves, - 


4,594,2o8 


Coffee, - 


274,3 8 4 


Wines and spirits, 


3,665A38 


Bolting-cloths, 


161,809 


Cotton, manufactures of, - 


2,231,058 


Rags, - 


114,862 


Fancy goods, 

Precious stones, Jewelry 


1,784,970 








Chief articles, - 


$3,°79, I 9 8 


and Watches, 


1,496,514 


All others, except 




Buttons, - 


842,647 


specie, 


1,323,435 


Straw, manufactures of, _ 


784,794 






Sardines, &c. , 


686,077 






Total, - 


$4,402,633 


Drugs and Chemicals, 
Furs and dressed Skins, 


598,993 






781,769 






Fruits, - 


521,349 






China and Earthenware, 


544,320 






Glass, manufactures of, - 


256,961 






Iron, Steel and other met- 








als, manufactures of, - 


481,926 






Paintings, Engravings, &c. 


378,66i 






Flax, manufactures of, 


354,i62 






Olive and other Oils, - 
Chief articles, 


3 I 5,9 I 4 




$40,765,193 






All other dutiable articles, 
Total, 


2,388,466 




$43,153,659 



Summary. 



Non-dutiable imports, 
Dutiable imports, 



$4,402,633 
43,153,659 



Total imports from France (exclusive of specie, ) $47, 556, 292 



86 



THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 



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THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 



8 9 



FpCO-jLMEpAN COMMERC 



E 



SPEECH OF LEON CHOTTEAU, 

Delegate of the French Committee, 

ADDRESSED TO THE BOARD OF GOVERNMENT OF THE 

Silk Association of America, 

AT A 

MEETING ON MAY 13, 1879. 



I now have the honor to address a powerful association 
which knows how to escape false impressions, and consult only 
its true interests. Washington, at the time when he resigned 
his high office, recommended his countrymen to always resist 
sentiment not agreeing with reason. You follow the principles 
proclaimed in the farewell speech of the first President of your 
Bepublic. Therefore, we shall arrive sooner at a good under- 
standing. 

Some prominent men in France and in the United States 
think it is possible to ameliorate the actual commercial relations 
of the two countries. They desire that expected progress should 
not injure American and French industries. You must approve 
their prudence. 

You manufacture silk, and your annual production aggre- 
gates a value of more than 20 millions of dollars. Tell us how 
should a Franco-American reciprocity treaty be concluded in 
order not to disturb your manufactures. 

You will be surprised if I confess that some honest persons 
contest, at this late day, the usefulness of treaties of commerce. 
In a city of the United States, which I do not name, they de- 
clared : " Countries which were closed had become great, and 
those which remained open had fallen behind." 

If such a remark is true, we ought to find France in deep 
poverty, since France, from 1860 till now, that is to say, for 
nearly twenty years, persists in opening her doors. Let us see 
the facts. 



90 THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 

The trade of France, imports and exports joined, gives this 
result : 

1859—1480,000,000. 
1878—11,566,000,000. 

The 1,566 millions of dollars reveal some new sources of 
activity. And first a large quantity of loaded ships have gone 
out from France. In reality : 
1859—3,036,000 tons, of which 1,473,000 tons were under the 

French flag. 
1876— 5,614,000 tons, of which 2,362,489 tons were under the 
French flag. 
The movement was perceived in the tonnage of merchandise 
carried by the steam river navigation : 
1859—2,616,000 tons. 
1876—6,146,034 tons. 

The innovation was also advantageous to the railroad 
lines : 

1859—19,047,799 tons carried on 5,706 miles. 
1876—62,131,107 tons carried on 12,697 miles. 

The French Post Office has no reason to complain. Be- 
cause : 
1859—258,900,000 postal letters, of which 18,456,730 were 

transmitted abroad. 
1875—367,443,307 postal letters, of which 45,300,664 were 
transmitted abroad. 
The Directors of the telegraph companies cannot lament. 
For, in 
1859 — 598,501 dispatches were forwarded, of which 144,703 

were international. 
1876—8,080,964 dispatches were forwarded, of which 1,027,249 
were international. 
French industry, in order to produce more, was obliged to 
increase its means of action. In : 
1859 — 14,691 steam engines were used in the private industry, 

representing 169,167 horse power. 
1875 — 32,000 steam engines were used, representing 400,756 
horse power. 
The well-being of the working men improves also : 
1859, December 31st — Owed payment to the depositors of the 
Savings Banks, $67,292,336, divided between 1,121,465 
small books. 



THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 9 1 

1875, December 31st— $132,082,793, divided between 2,365,577 

small books. 
1878, December 31st— Owed payment $205,291,903. 

From all that must result the larger amount of the National 
Wealth in France : 
1859, Value in Capital of the ascertained inheritances, 

$480,000,000. 
1866— $1,540,000,000. 

You will agree with me that your countrymen from 

have been gravely mistaken by asserting that a Treaty of Com- 
merce is always for a people a cause of ruin. The truth is that 
a Reciprocity Treaty with France would increase your exports, 
encourage your maritime trade, give a new impulse to your river 
navigation, raise the receipts of your railroad lines, your post- 
offices, and telegraphs, double the number of your steam 
engines, permit your working-men to economize, and bring your 
national wealth to a more certain and solid basis. 

The general interests of the American Republic commend 
you to sign a Reciprocity Treaty with France : but how can 
that treaty be concluded in order to protect the special interests 
of the silk makers of America ? 

France exports silk fabrics to Germany, England, Portugal, 
Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, United States, Brazil, 
Argentine Republic, Algeria, Russia, Netherlands, Belgium, 
Egypt, British India, Mexico, New Granada, Uruguay, Chili, 
Peru, Spanish Possessions of America, Martinique, and so on. 
She sent to the above countries, from 1867 to 1876, an annual 
average of $85,622,309 worth of silk, of which $18,250,158 came 
to the United States. 

In 1878, France exported — 

Silk Fabrics. . . . $57,742,000 

Silks and Silk Flocks 28,463,000 

In the year ending June 30th, 1878, you received some 
manufactured silk from abroad : 

France $10,891,287 

Germany . 5,638,362 

Great Britain 2,797,309 

Netherlands 390,033 

China 73,407 

Japan 19,498 

Belgium 18,335 



9 2 THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 

Italy 2,784 

Canada 2,763 

Hong Kong 2,368 

Other Countries 1,326 



$19,837,972 



The value of the raw silk imported into the United States 
is thus divided : 

China $2,957,617 

Japan 831,353 

France 721,425 

Great Britain 526,252 

Hong Kong 36,002 

Germany 27,364 

Belgium . 2,505 

Canada 560 

$5,103,084 
By adding — 

Silk Worms, Silk Worm Eggs and Silk Cocoons $520,091 

Silk Waste and Noils. 372,392 



$892,483 



We find that the total import into the United States, in the 
last fiscal year, amounts to $25,833,539. 

Of that sum France represents $11,612,712, that is to say 
54.90 per cent, of your import of manufactured silk, and 14.14 
of your import of raw silk. 

In England, silk fabrics are free of duty. 

Silk fabrics, or silk flocks, pay, in Germauy, per 220 pounds, 
from $45 to $60. 

Austria established a tax rising from $60 to $80 for the 
same quantity. 

Belgium asks 5 per cent, ad valorem for tulles and laces ; 
and for other silk fabrics $60 per 220 pounds. 

In Spain the duty, per nearly 2 pounds, is from $1.85 to $5.94. 

Greece, per 220 pounds, demands, according to the kind of 
fabrics, $49.20 to $112.40, or even so much as $337.40 (velvet, 
plush and veils.) . 



THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 93 

In Italy, per nearly 2 pounds, 10c., 30c., $1 or $1.60 ; and 
sometimes from 5 to 10 per cent, ad valorem. 

Norway taxes, per about 2 pounds, 45 cents or 97 cents. 

In the Netherlands, 5 per cent, ad valorem. 

In Portugal, per about 2 pounds, from $2.25 to $7.75. 

Eussia also, per about 2 pounds, charges $1.95, $4.29 or 
$9.77. , 

In Switzerland, per 220 pounds, from $3.20 to $6. 

At last, Turkey is satisfied with 8 per cent, ad valorem. 

The above figures permit you to compare them with the 
United States, where the general tariff says : 

Silk fabrics for gowns or in pieces, pure silk rib- 
bons and velvet, or velvet in which silk appears 
as the principal material, ad valorem 60 per cent. 

Silk fabrics for waistcoats, shawls, scarfs, man- 
tillas, veils, laces, men and womens' hats, silk cords 
and fancy trimming, ad valorem 60 per cent. 

Silk fabrics, non-denominated, in which silk is 
the principal material, ad valorem 50 per cent. 

Perhaps you already ask if a practical convention con- 
cluded by the two Republics would not permit you to export to 
France. 

From 1867 to 1876 the annual average of the silk fabrics 
imported into France amounted to $6,390,138. The countries 
which formed that sum were England, the English East Indies, 
China, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Belgium. 

By the general French tariff, silk fabrics coming from coun- 
tries outside of Europe are free of duty if going directly to 
France ; but they must pay, if they go through a warehouse of 
Europe, 5 cents per about 2 pounds net. 

The authors of the general tariff had specially in view the 
silk fabrics from India and China. Here you would have no 
advantage by accepting the conventional tariff applying to the 
European nations, since that tariff taxes silk ribbons with 80 
cents or $1 per about 2 pounds not ; silk lace, made with or 
without silver, from 70 cents to $2.40 per about 2 pounds net. 
But the conventional tariff can always be modified, and in all 
cases would offer you an advantage for silk flocks which are 
prohibited by the general tariff, or admitted into France under 
a duty, per 220 pounds net., of from $48 to $240. 

In 1826, the English, without neglecting foreign markets, 



94 THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 

specially secured for themselves their own market. They manu- 
factured some nice silk fabrics. They thought that the high 
duties, imposed on silk fabrics coming from abroad, proved to 
the ladies of Great Britain that the home product could not 
compete with the French product. In order to show that they 
had confidence in themselves, the manufacturers claimed that 
the duty on silk fabrics could be reduced from 75 to 30 per cent. 
ad valorem. That reduction gave a new impetus to the produc- 
tion of England. And later, in 1852, some manufacturers of 
Manchester complained of being yet too much protected. They 
petitioned their government to abolish the duties on silk fabrics 
received from abroad, and not partially and by degrees, but 
wholly and immediately. 

The English of 1826 and 1852 had a fuller success at home. 
About France, the annual average of the export from England to 
France increased from $165,755 for the period between 1847 and 
1856, to $423,833 in 1857-1866, and to $1,701,223 in 1867-1876. 

For the imports into England, Huskinson said in the House 
of Commons, that no larger a number of silk handkerchiefs or 
gowns were introduced than formerly, when the duty was 75 per 
cent, ad valorem. The wants of the consumers were the same. 
But the consumers of the years before 1826 supplied themselves 
by the help of smugglers. Later, with the duty of 30 per cent., 
they desired only the aid of the law. 

In the United States, the vigilance of the Custom House is 
seldom at fault. We admit that smuggling is very rare. If the 
50 and 60 per cent, are reduced in a reasonable measure, the 
import of French silk fabrics will increase in the United States, 
and the Treasury at Washington will receive more millions of 
dollars than it does now. 

Mr. John Sherman, Secretary of Finance, will no doubt be 
glad; but what consequence, in your opinion, will a moderate 
reduction on French silk fabrics have upon your industry ? I 
interrogate you with all the respect which the distinguished 
members of the Silk Association inspire me with. 

Tour answers will be actuated solely by the desire to en- 
lighten, persuade and convince the governments of France and 
the United States with regard to this important subject. 



Mr. Chotteau was thanked for his courtesy in presenting the subject. 
The matter was referred by the Association to its Revenue Laws Committee. 



THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. g 5 



Reply to the Address 

of M. Chotteau. 



To the Board of Government of the 
Silk Association of America : 

Your Committee on Revenue Laws have carefully considered the argu- 
ments in favor of a treaty of commerce submitted by M. Leon Chotteau 
to your Board, and also the report of a meeting held in the same interest 
on Sunday, December ist, 1878, in Paris, with a telegram from the 
Chamber of Commerce at Marseilles to the French Minister of Commerce 
and Agriculture. 

The statistics given by M. Chotteau, of French imports and exports, 
etc., are very interesting, but in the opinion of your Committee they can- 
not be taken as an argument for or against a treaty of commerce such as 
M. Chotteau advocates. 

The statistics of United States imports and exports, etc., show a much 
larger growth of prosperity, and if taken as an argument would prove the 
advantage of the United States tariff over a treaty of commerce. 

Your Committee is strongly of the opinion that the customs duties of 
the United States can only be equitably regulated altogether in a general 
tariff and not partially by a treaty of commerce. 

M. Chotteau in his address says : 

You manufacture silk, and your annual production aggregates a value of more than 
20 millions dollars. Tell us how should a Franco-American reciprocity treaty be con- 
cluded in order not to disturb your manufactures. 

You will be surprised if I confess that some honest persons contest, at this late day,, 
the usefulness of treaties of commerce. 

Your Committee honestly contend that no case has been made out, 
showing that the United States need a treaty of commerce ; and that we 
cannot afford sentimentally to sacrifice our home industries. 



96 THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 

M. Chotteau in his address carefully avoids the points of the treaty he 
advocates, and the said points are similarly avoided by the distinguished 
speakers at the meeting held at Paris on Sunday, Dec. 1st. The Mar- 
seilles Chamber of Commerce, however, discusses them in a telegram to 
the Minister of Commerce and Agriculture. Referring to silks, the 
Chamber cites the provision of the treaty : 

Silks, all which now pay 60 per cent., will in future, only pay 50 per cent, for the 
first year, 40 per cent, for the second year, and 30 per cent, for the third year ; this 
duty of 30 per cent, will be maintained during the term of the treaty ; 

and then goes on to say of the duty of 30 per cent, 

The Chamber of Commerce cannot admit these high duties — they will not be just. 
The manufacturers of Lyons seem disposed to accept them, but that is only because 
they desire that an important amelioration should be made in the present condition of 
affairs, without reference to the treaty itself, which would entitle us to much more. 

The Silk Association of America cannot long hesitate as to the answer 
it shall make to such a proposition. 

M. Chotteau cites the action of some of the silk manufacturers of Eng- 
land who favored the Cobden treaty which introduced French silks free 
into England. The bitter sequel to this action, which prostrated the silk 
trade of England and brought upon the industrial classes actual starvation 
while French looms were supplying the English market, is matter of 
history with which your Committee is well acquainted. 

M. Chotteau tells us that the importation of English silk goods into 
France averaged $423,833 from 1857 to 1866, and that it increased to 
$1,701,228 from 1867 to 1876; but he omits to tell us that under the 
reciprocity (!) treaty such as he now proposes to us, the annual importa- 
tion of French silk into England increased from $3,750,000 to nearly 
$50,000,000. 

The following letter, which appeared in the Macclesfield Courier of 
May 17th, 1879, * s so pertinent that your committee make it part of their 
report : 

A WEAVER'S VIEW OF THE DEPRESSION OF TRADE. 

May 17, 1879. 
To the Editor of the Macclesfield Courier : 

Sir, — Will you please to allow me to point out in your valuable columns a few of 
the causes why the silk trade is in such a depressed state at the present time. 1st. 
The great number of failures throughout the country, which have shaken commercial 
confidence to its very centre. 2d. The very long and severe winter. And 3d, (and 



THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 97 

above all) the very injurious effects of the French Treaty. I remember at the time the 
Treaty came into operation there were about 25 or 30 silk manufacturers in Manchester 
and its vicinity, and they actually petitioned the Government to do away with the silk 
duties forthwith ; which was done — 15 per cent, being on at the time. There were 
upwards of 14,000 looms going at the time at Bedford Leigh and its neighborhood, but 
the Treaty swept them all away. I said at the time "they must be Free Trade mad." 
Destitution followed wherever silk was manufactured. Look at poor Coventry and the 
miseries that the people suffered there ! Then look at poor old Macclesfield, which was 
christened "the doomed town" by travellers who passed through it ; and well they 
might call it so, for according to Mr. May's statistics there were upwards of 2,000 
houses empty for years — whole rows of garretted houses at is. 6d. rental, and nobody 
to take them. On the Franco-German war taking place, Lyons was put in a state of 
defence ; the Army of Lyons moved up to Sedan a hundred thousand strong, under 
Marshal McMahon ; and no doubt thousands of weavers and other silk hands were in 
that army. At that time there was an article in the Economist which said: — "We 
hope that the silk manufacturers and operatives in England will act wisely at the 
present time and for the future that is before them, by doing their uttermost to secure 
the new markets, new customers, and new connections that the war is sure to give 
them." And so it did, for all the Macclesfield houses got tenanted, the rents went up 
double, and there was not one to be got. Some people called it a God-send ; one 
gentleman said at a meeting, held at the Drill-hall, that Macclesfield — •" the doomed 
town " — had once more reared its head ; that we had had an unparalleled trade for the 
last three or four years, and that it was all due to Mr. Gladstone. I will leave that 
with your readers, for I know, and so do hundreds beside me, to the contrary. It is well 
known that while the French were fighting and carrying on their Communist opera- 
tions amongst themselves, that we got, what I am afraid they are getting back again now, 
namely, the customers and connections they had before the war. I used to take notice 
of the returns of the Board of Trade, but when they had got into the tenth million I gave 
it up as hopeless ; but I find that they have got into the tenth million again, and if so, 
there is very little left for us to make. What I stated years ago, I now repeat : If the 
French bring in over nine millions of silk goods, we have nothing but the remnant of 
the trade left ; therefore we ought to be very careful that we don't lose even that. See 
how careful the French are in every way. About two months ago, 20 Chambers of 
Commerce were represented and waited upon the French Minister of Commerce, for the 
purpose of inducing him to do his best to get the Government co renew all old treaties 
that were beneficial to French interests, and all new ones to be modified so as that their 
interests should be taken care of in every way. The minister promised he would do 
his best. Now, since Earl Granville has complimented Earl Beaconsfield, and told 
him that he has rendered a service to his country by putting his foot down firmly on 
any kind of protection, I think it behooves us to do our best to induce the gentlemen 
composing our Chamber of Commerce to do their best to carry out the views of Mr. 
Oliver, their worthy vice-president, by getting the duties on mixed goods, spun silks, 
etc., removed as soon as possible, and by doing away with the injustice that has been 
practised upon England since i860. The duties on mixed goods range from 6 to 15 
per cent., but the gentlemen of the Chamber of Commerce understand all about the 
question. Yours respectfully, 

JOHN PERRY. 



P. S. — I hope that all classes will come forward and put their feet down firmly to 
stamp out this unjust duty on mixed goods, spun silks, and velvets, that has been a 
burden upon us for the last 19 years. It is the only remedy that I can see. 



9 8 



THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 



Stripped of all ornament and sentiment, the proposed treaty is to do for 
the silk trade of the United States what the Cobden treaty did for the silk - 
trade of England, viz. : to take the employment from American opera- 
tives and give it to French operatives. We now make $20,000,000 of 
silk goods per annum and import about the same. The treaty is to be 
framed so that we shall make less and import more. This is a working- 
man's question, and affects every one who lives by labor. 

M. Chotteau speaks of the improved condition of the workingmen of 
France, and gives the figures of savings bank deposits. Your Com- 
mittee submit a comparative statement, showing the number of de- 
positors and amount of deposits in savings banks in the New England 
States and New York State, and in all France: 





Year i860. 


Year 1875. 


Average 


Year 


1876. 
















Average. 




Deposits. 


Depositors 


Deposits. 




Depositors. 


Deposits. 




Maine, - - - 


$i>539> 2 57 


96,799 


$29,612,221 


$305 9i 


101,326 


$32,083,314 


$316 00 


New Hampshire 


4,863,024 


96,938 


30,214,585 


2, 11 69 


100,191 


31,198,064 


316 or 


Vermont, - - 


1,111,532 


22,972 


6,004,694 


261 39 


25,060 


6,653,540 


2G5 50 


Massachusetts, 


45,054,236 


702,099 


217,452,121 


322 87 


720,639 


234,974,691 


326 06 


Rhode Island, 


9,163,760 


9 8 359 


48,771,502 


495 85 


101,635 


51,311,331 


504 85 


Connecticut, - - 


i9'377> 6 7° 


206,374 


73,783,802 


357 52 


208,030 


7 6 »489.3 10 


367 69 


New York, 


6 7> 44o, 397 


872,498 


303,935.649 


348 35 


859.738 


319,260,202 


371 00 


Total, - - 


$148,546,876 


2,096,039 


$7 9.774.S74 


$338 66 


2,116,619 


$75i»970.452 


$355 26 


All France, - 


$67,292,336 








2,365.557 


$132 082,793 


$55 80 



Attention is invited to these figures, showing that the deposits of the 
State of New York and the State of Massachusetts far exceed the depo- 
sits of the w T hole of France. 

Protection to American industry has not created a monopoly for 

American manufacturers. 

In the year 1876, out of forty-eight New England manufacturing 

companies, 

16 paid no dividends, 

9 paid from 2 to 5 per cent. , 

18 paid from 6 to 10 per cent, 

and only 5 paid over 10 per cent. 



THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 99 

The benefits of protection accrue mainly to the operatives. They are 
better paid for their labor and are consequently better fed and better 
clothed than the operatives of any other country. Their families enjoy 
comforts unknown elsewhere ; and when so disposed, they save liberally 
of their earnings. 

In the year 1876 there were in the United States 10,853,390 children 
from 6 to 16 years of age ; of these 8,825,185 were enrolled in the 
public schools, and 84 millions of dollars were expended in their educa- 
tion. 

The manifest purpose of the proposed treaty is to enable France to sell 
more of her wines and silks to the United States ; it by no means follows 
that France would buy more from the United States under the treaty 
than heretofore. She sells us luxuries ; she buys from us necessaries. 
Her necessities will not be increased because she finds a larger outlet 
here for the products of her wine-presses and her looms. It is more 
than probable that an increased balance against us would have to be paid 
in hard cash. This brief statement shows the absence of a basis for real 
reciprocity between the two countries. In 1877 we exported to France 
$46,390,213. This is made up chiefly of raw material, $25,000,000 
being cotton, which France must have for her own benefit. In the 
same year we imported from France $47,556,292. This is made up 
chiefly of manufactured goods. 

France has manufactured silk for 350 years. She has all the appliances, 
means, technical education, and we might almost say, instinct, for it. 
She has earned her pre-eminence. She has always regarded the industry 
as of great national importance, and has encouraged and protected it 
most jealously. Hence her anxiety at the progress of the silk industry in 
America. 

To-day, the United States stand second among the nations for textile 
manufactures, and if wise counsels prevail she will soon stand first, and 
the silk industry will do its share towards the attainment of that rank. 

Your committee consider that the proposed treaty would destroy the 

silk trade of America, and therefore recommend that it be opposed by 

the Silk Association of America, vigorously, at every point. 
L'oT 0. 



IOO THE SILK ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. 

All which is respectfully submitted. 



B. Richardson, Chairman. 
Robert Hamil, 

C. Lambert, 

f. o. horstmann, 
Werner Itschner, 
A. B. Strange, 
Seth Low, 
William Ryle. 



New York, June 21st, 1879. 



The foregoing Report has been submitted to many members of the 
Paterson Board of Trade, who are identified with silk interests, and a 
meeting will be held after the summer vacations, at which the said 
Report will undoubtedly receive the emphatic indorsement of the 
Board. 

William Ryle, 
President of the Paterson Board 0/ Trade. 

Paterson, July 2, 1879. 



The foregoing Report was indorsed by Resolution, passed at a meeting 
of the Silk Industry Association of Paterson, N. J. 

John P. Mackay, Secretary. 
James Booth, 
John Grimshaw, 
George Singleton, 
J. Weidmann, 
Dwight Ashley, 
George Grimshaw, Jr., 
George Frost, 
John C. Ryle 
Paterson, July 2, 1879. 



AMERICAN 



SILK GOODS 



DIRECTORY. 



INCLUDING SILK MANUFACTURERS, DEALERS IN 

SILK MANUFACTURES, AND RAW SILK 

IMPORTERS AND BROKERS. 



Compiled by Wm. C. Wyckoff. 



1879. 



No directory of the American Silk Interest has been compiled 
since 1876, with any pretensions to accuracy. The changes in the 
interval have been very numerous. The present directory has fewer 
errors than its predecessors, but is still, doubtless, incomplete. Its 
compiler will be greatly obliged, if notice is sent to him of errors or 
omissions, and of changes in firms, companies or agencies ; as such in- 
formation may be utilized in a second edition. 

44 Howard Street, 

New Yoik. 



DIRECTORY. 

American Silk Goods. 



SILK MANUFACTURERS, AND DEALERS IN SILK MANUFACTURES. 



NEW YORK. 

\_If not otherwise stated, the address is New York City.] 

R. Adams & Co. Ribbons. 31 Greene street. 

Bache & Bidmead. Elastic Webs. Factory and salesroom, 155 11th Avenue. 

*Samuel Bernstein. Ladies' Dress Trimmings and Passementerie. Factory, 

214 to 222 West 26th street ; salesroom, 479 Broadway. 
Boston & Schmid. Coach Laces, Fringes and Tassels. Factory and salesroom, 

5 West Fourth street. 
*Brainerd, Armstrong & Co. Sewing Silk and Twist ; mills, Florence, Mass., 

and Willimantic, Conn. ; salesrooms, 469 Broadway ; 238 Market street, 

Philadelphia ; 13 German street Baltimore ; 4 Fifth avenue, Pittsburg. 
C. F. Blake. Gros Grains. Cor. Fulton and Pineapple streets, Brooklyn. 
Edward G. Brown. Upholstery Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 787 and 

789 Broadway. 
John T. Camp & Co. Dress Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 19 Mercer 

street. 
Chas. W. Capello. Sewing Silk and Twist, 29 Lispenard street. 
B. L Cohen. Dress Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 5 Howard street. 
N. Collett & Co. Fringes, Gimps and Cords. Factory and salesroom, 26 

Union Square. 
*William H. Copcutt & Co . Tram, Spool Silks, Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills, 

Yonkers : salesroom, 31 Greene street. 
Deppeler &, Kammerer. Ladies' Dress Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 

08 Grand street. 
James Dalton. Hair Nets. Factory and salesroom, 61 Hudson street. 
George Dietzel. Dress Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 398 Broome street. 
F. Dreisacker & Co. Cloak Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 491 Broadway. 
Julius Dreyf uss. Dress Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 109 Greene street. 
Adolph S. Ellison. Dress Trimmings. 46 Walker street. 
Fisher & Taff. Dress Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 8 Howard street. 
Frankenheimer & Co. Upholstery Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 810 

Broadway. 
"*Louis Franke. Dress and Cloak Trimmings; Braided Cord; Tubular Braid. 

Factory, 444 Broome street. Organzine, Tram, Twist, Fringe Silk and 

Braids. Mills, Paterson, N. J. Salesroom, 489 Broadway. 
H. Friend. Trimmings and Fringes. 604 Broadway. 

* Connected with the Si".li Association of America, by membership. 



104 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

*Hugo Funke. Ribbons. Mills, College Point ; salesroom, 19 Greene street. 

German Braid Company. Silk Braids. Brooklyn, E. D. 

Henry Gimpel & Co. Dress Trimmings. Factory and salesroom,. 403 

Broadway. 
Frederick Gminder & Co. liress Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 56 

Walker street. 
Louis Greenbaum. Cords and Tassels. Factory, 447-453 West 26th street ; 

salesroom, 248 Canal street. 
Helmke & Co. Dress Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 731 Broadway; 
Hobley Bros. William H. H. K. C. Higgins, Agent. Belt Ribbons, Dress 

Trimmings, &c. Factory, Williamsburgh. Salesroom, 107 Grand street. 
P. Hagan. Dress Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 180 Bowery. 
M. Haiges. Dress Trimmings. Rochester. 
Henry Hartwig & Co. Upholstery Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 

340 Bowery. 
Frederick Haubner & Co. Upholstery Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 

606 Eighth Avenue. 
*Thomas F. Hayes. Ladies' Dress and Cloak TrimmingSo Factory and sales- 
room, 5 to 9 Union Square. 
James Heidenreick. Silk Dyer. 423-425 West 35th, and 422-424 36th street. 
Jacob. Heineman. Ladies' Dress Trimmings, &c. 28 Howard street. 
Isaac Hilton. Dress Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 128 River street, 

Troy. 
F. Hoffman. Furrier Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 356 Bowery. 
George Howard. Fancy Goods, Twills, &c. Factory and salesroom, 343 

West 24th street. 
C. W. Jackson & Co. Dress Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 114 East 

14th street. 
*A. G. Jennings. Guipure, Thread, Blonde, Brussels and Bretonne Laces, Lace 

Mitts, Scarfs, Neck Ties and Hair Nets. "Jennings' Lace Works," Park 

Avenue and Hall street, Brooklyn ; salesroom, 428 Broome street. 
Korman & Stepath. Dress Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 41 Walker 

street. 
Alexander King & Co. Dealers in Organzine, Tram, Fringes, Twist and 

Sewing Silk. Salesroom, 54 Leonard street. 
Rudolph Krumsick. Fur Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 7 Mercer 

street. 
M. Leiter. Ribbons and Upholstery Gimps. Factory and salesroom, 59 to 65 

Goe'rck street. 
F. Leschhorn & Co. Dress Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 21 Howard 

street. 
Lips, Nathan & Kiippers. Silk Refinishers. Factory and office, 28 Howard 

street. 
Joseph Loth & Co. Silk Ribbons. Factory, New York- salesroom, 458 

Broome street. 
J. Lovatts' Sons. Sewing Silk and Twist. Factory and salesroom, Tarrytown 

William Macfarlane. Gum Silk, Sewing Silk, and Twist. Mills and sales- 
room, Yonkers, "Nepperhan Silk Works." 

J. B. Mackie. Sewing Silk and Twist. 78 Wooster street. 

J. Maidhof & Co. Dress Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 455 and 457 
Broadway. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA, 1 05 

E. Mantone & Co. Dress and Cloak Trimmings. 426 Broome street. 

Charles N. Martin. Sewing Silk and Twist. Salesroom, 350 Canal street. 

A. Maynard&Co Upholstery Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 100 South 
Sixth street, Brooklyn, E. D. 

S. McLure. Dress Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 251 Fulton street, 
Brooklyn. 

L. Meyers & Co. Dress Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 424= Broome 
street. 

A. Moll. Braids. Factory, 233 and 235 5th street, Brooklyn, E. D. ; sales- 
room, 109 Grand street. 

Ernst Muller. Dress Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 820 Br )adway. 

*Kussell Murray. Organzine and Tram. 63 Greene street. 

J.Nawl. Cords and Braids. Brooklyrj. 

Jacob New. Bibbons. Factory, 422 to 123 West 33th street ; salesroom, 61 
Greene street. 

William Neustaedter. Dealer in Tram, Organzine and Spun Silk. Sales- 
room, 46 Walker street. 

*New York Silk Manufacturing Co. W. J. Harris, Manager. Gros Grain Bib- 
bons, Beltings and Hat Bandings. Factory and salesroom, 527 West 
22d street. L. Bloom, sole agent. 

Nordheim & Harris. Dress and Upholstery Trimmings. Factory and sales- 
room, 7 Washington Place. 

Oneida Community. Thomas Handy, Agent. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills, 
Oneida ; salesroom, 54 Lispenard street. 

Maurice O'Brien. Upholstery Trimmings and Fringes. Factory and sales- 
room, 91 Bowery. 

Morris Opper. Dress Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 681 Broadway. 

A. L. Phillips & Co. Hatters' and Furriers' Trimmings. Factory and 
salesroom, 54 Mercer street. 

S. Piek. Dress and Cloak Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 595 Broadway. 

Wm. Beitmeyer. Fringes and Trimmings. Factory, 324 to 332 Delancey 
street, and 31 to 41 Tompkins street ; salesroom, 29 Howard street. 

Boemer & Co. Upholstery Trimmings and Frirjges. Factory and salesroom, 
729 Broadway. 

*William Byle. Dealer in Thrown Silks. (Also, Importer of Baw Silks.) 
54 Howard street. 

*Sauquoit Silk Manufacturing Co. L. B. Stelle, President. Bichard Boss- 
miissler, Treasurer. Tram, Organzine and Fringe Silks. Factories, 
Sauquoit, near Utica, N. Y., Scranton, Penn., and Philadelphia. Sales- 
rooms, cor. Columbia ave and Bandolph street, Philadelphia, and 54 
Howard street, New York. 

C. A. Schmidt. Upholstery Trimmings and Fringes. Factory and salesroom 
85 Chambers and 67 Beade streets. 

*J. Silbermann & Co. Bonnet and Belt Bibbons, Dress Trimmings, &c. 
Factory, 452 to 456 10th Avenue ; salesroom, 21 Mercer street. 

*George B. Skinner & Co. Tram, Organzine, acd Fringe Silk, Sewings and 
Twist. Mills, Yonkers. Salesroom, 27 Mercer street. 

*John N. Stearns & Co. Black and Colored Gros Grain Silks, Brocaded Dress 
Silks, Plain and Fancy Handkerchiefs. Factories, 213 io 221 East 421 
street, and 214 to 221 East 43d street. Salesroom, 458 Broome street. 



106 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

A. T. Stewart & Co. Colored and Black Gros Grain Silks; Satin de Chine. 

Mills, Carteret. Salesrooms, 784 Broadway. 
Sutro Bros. Silk, Mohair, Cotton and Gilt Braids ; Tubular Braids and 

Braided Cords ; Sole Manufacturers of Braids on Patent Cards. Factory 

and salesroom, 35 and 37 Wooster street. 
"Robert Thorp & Sons. Galloons, Ribbons, Hatters' and Clothiers' Trim- 

mings, Hat, Shoe and Prussian Bindings. 52 Greene street. 
J. H. Voght. Trimmings, Cords, Braids, &c. 425 Broadway. 
*Eichard Walter. Silks and Eibbons. Mills, 456 and 458 Vest 46th street ; 

salesroom, 222 and 224 Church street. 
E. Weinberg. Upholstery Trimmings and Fringes. Factory and salesroom, 

814 Broadway. 
C. W. Weinberg. Dress Trimmings, &c. Salesroom, 23 Howard street. 
William Weiss. Dress Trimmings, &c. Factory and salesroom, 424 Broome 

street. 
P. H. & W. Williams. Fringes, Tassels, Gimps, &c. Factory and salesroom, 

873 Broadway. 

NEW JERSEY. 

E. &. H. Adams. Eibbons and Fancy Silks. Factory, Paterson; salesroom, 

14 Greene Street, New York. 
American Braid Co. Silk Watchchains, <&c. Paterson. 
Ashley & Bailey. Tie Silks, Dress Goods, Handkerchiefs, &c. Paterson. 
C. B. Auer. Satins and Brocades. Paterson. 
Auerbach & Eosenheim. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills, Paterson ; salesroom, 

34 Howard street, New York. 
Barnes & Peel. Silk and Mohair Braids, Organzine, Tram, Trimmings, &c. 

Beaver Mill, Paterson. 
P. & I. Bannagan. Tram, Organzine, and Fringe Silks. Mills and salesroom, 

Lakeview. 
*J. H. Booth & Co. Tram, Organzine, and Fringe Silks. Mills, corner Market 

and Spruce streets, Paterson ; salesroom, 54 Howard street. 
George L. Broomhall. Tie Silks, Dress Goods, Handkerchiefs, &c. Paterson. 
*Caula & Chaffanjon. Dress Silks. Victory Silk Mills, Columbia and Lincoln 

streets, Jersey City Heights ; salesrooms, Oberteuffer, Abegg & Co., 

agents, 94 Grand street, New York. 
*C. Chaffanjon. Broad Silks, Serges, Satin de Chine, &c. Mills, Jersey 

City Heights, "Favorite" Silk Manufactory. 
L. Chapperon. Dress Goods. 106 Washington street, Hoboken. 
John Comby. Black and Colored Gros Grains. Mills, West Hoboken. Sales- 
room, 222 Church street. C. Passavant & Co., agents. 
*John D. Cutter & Co. Inslee A. Hopper, late President of Singer Manufactur- 
ing Co., special partner. Sewing Silk, Button Hole Twist, Silk Braids, 

Serge, Satin de Chine. Gros Grains, Handkerchiefs, Scarfs, &c. Mills. 

Newark ; salesrooms, 329 and 331 Broadway, cor. Worth street, New York; 

26 Summer street, Boston, and 40 Arch street Philadelphia. 
*Dexter, Lambert & Co. Twill Silks, Tie Silks, Eibbons, and Ladies' Dress 

Silks. Mills, Paterson. Salesroom, 33 and 35 Greene street, New York. 
Frederick S. Dale. Silk and Mohair Braids and Bindings. "Dale Mill," 

Paterson. 
*John Dunlop. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills, Paterson, "Union Silk 

Works ;" salesroom, 25 Mercer street, New York. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 107 

Joseph Fletcher. Thrown Silk. Factory and salesroom, Paterson. 

"Louis Franke. Fringe Silk, Twist, Tram, and Organzine, especiajly prepared 

for Trimming Manufacturers. Salesroom, 444 Broome street. 
H. H. Freeman & Co. Piece Silks. Mills, Paterson. 
George Frost. Throwster. Paterson. 

Gianetti & Co. Throwsters. Factory and salesroom, Haledon. 
*Givernaud Bros. Gum Silks, Dress and Fancy Silks. Factory and salesroom 

Hoboken ; office, 46 Howard street, New York. 
F. Grassan. Upholstery Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, Washington 

street, Hoboken. 
Claude Greppo. Silk Dyer. Dale Avenue and Slater street, Paterson. Office, 

27 Mercer street, New York. 
*Grimshaw Bros. Handkerchiefs, Scarfs, Dress Goods, &c. Mills, Dale 
avenue and Slater street, Paterson ; salesroom, 71 Franklin street, 
New York. 
Grossenbacher & Co. Broad Silks, &c. Mills, Paterson. Agents in New 

York, 85 Grand street. 
*Hamil & Booth. Tram, Organzine, and Fringe Silks, Bibbons, Fancy Silks, 
&c. Mills, Paterson, "Passaic Silk Works ''and "Hamil" Mill ; sales- 
room, 96 Grand street, New York. 
Hayes & Crawford. Dress Goods, Tie Silks, Handkerchiefs, &c. Paterson. 
Wm. Hembery. Silk Dyer. Paterson. 
*Hinze & Co. Silk Kefinishing Works. Hoboken. Office, 47 Mercer street, 

New York. 
M. J. Hawks & Co. Prussian Bindings, Galloons, &c. Hamilton Mill, 

Paterson. M. H. Chapin, agent, 68 Greene street, New York. 
W. D. Holmes. Dress Goods, Handkerchiefs, &c. 9 Fair street, Paterson. 
Homer & Soleliac. Silks. Factory, Paterson ; salesroom, Luckemeyer, 

Kunoth & Co., agents, 472 Broome street, New York. 
Hopper & Scott. Thrown Silk. Paterson . 
Jourdeiul & Pinkney. Silks, Serges and Satin de Chine. Mills, West 

Hoboken. Salesroom, 532 Broadway, New York. 
Kingman & Freeman. Piece Goods, Handkerchiefs, &c. Mills, Paterson ; 

salesroom, 57 Mercer street, New York. 
John Lockett. Tie Silks, Dress Goods, Handkerchiefs, &c. Paterson. 
S. Lucas. Dress and Millinery Goods, Tie Silks, Handkerchiefs, &c. Paterson. 
*J. P. Mackay. Dress. Plain, and Fancy Silks, Scarfs, &c. Mills and sales- 
room, Paterson. 
*S. M. Meyenberg. Bibbons, Veils, Ties, &c. Factory, Paterson. Salesroom, 

40 Lispenard street, New York. 
Miller & Brown. Dress Goods, Handkerchiefs, &c. 93 Biver street, Paterson. 
George Morlot. Silk Dyer. 32d street and 10th ave., Paterson. Office, 

38 Howard street, New York. 
Neuberger Braid Co. Silk and Mohair Braids and Trimmings. Mills, Pater- 
son ; salesrooms, 39 and 41 Walker street, New York. 
Nightingale Bros. Tie Silks, Dress Goods, Handkerchiefs, &c. Paterson. 
Paterson Dyeing Association. Silk Dyers. Franklin Mill, Paterson. 
Paterson Dyeing and Finishing Co. P. Dorgeval, Manager. Works, Paterson; 

office, 27 Mercer street, New York. 
*Pelgram & Meyer. Bibbons, Piece Goods, &c. Mills, Paterson; salesroom, 
57 and 59 Greene street, New York. 



108 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

*Pioneer Silk Co. Tram, Organzine, Dress and Fancy Silks, &c. The Murray- 
Mills, Paterson. 
A. Pocachard. Dress Silks. 117 Market street, Paterson. 
J. Eousset. Silk Dress Goods. Paterson. 
*John C. Kyle & Co. Thrown Silk. Paterson. 
J. E. Schoals & Co. Handkerchiefs, &o. Mills, Paterson. Salesroom, 58 

Lispenard street, New York. 
See&Sheehan. Silk Dyers. Dye Works, Paterson ; office, 96 Grand street, 

New York. 
*John Jackson Scott. Sewing Silk and Twist, and Silk Dyer. Factory and 

salesroom, Paterson. 
Thomas Sherratt, Dress and Novelty Piece Goods, Tie Silks, Scarfs, &c. 

60 Bailroad ave., Paterson. 
George Singleton. Tram and Organzine. Paterson . 

A. Siedendorf. Upholstery Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, Hoboken. 
♦Herman Simon. Dress and Fancy Silks. Factory and salesroom, Town of 

Union ; salesrooms, 62 and 64 Worth street, New York. 
E M. Smith & Nightingale. Tie Silks, Dress Goods, Handkerchiefs, &c. 

Paterson. 
Wright Smith. Dress Goods, Tie Silks, Scarfs, Handkerchiefs, &c. Mills, 

Paterson ; salesrooms, 57 Leonard srreet, New York. 
Southworth Brothers. Dress Goods and Handkerchiefs. Paterson. 
C. Spangenberg. Upholstery Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, Gardner 

street, Hoboken. 
* William Strange & Co. Eibbons, Handkerchiefs, Millinery Silks, &c. Trams, 

Organzines, &c. Mills, Paterson ; salesroom, Strange & Bro., 42 Greene 

street, New York. Paris house, E. B. Strange & Bro. 
William Ther & Sons. Elastic Webbing. Factory and salesroom, New 

Brunswick. 
*B. B. Tilt & Son. Silk Piece Goods, Handkerchiefs, Eibbons, &c. Mills, 

Paterson; salesroom, 90 and 94 Grand street, New York. 
*<J. Weidmann. Silk Dyer. Dye Works, corner Paterson and Ellison streets, 

Paterson. Black Dyeing a specialty . 
A. D. Winneld & Co. Silk and Mohair Braids. Union Works, Paterson. 
Wortendyke Manufacturing Co. Tram, Organzine, and Fringe Silks, Mills, 

Wortendyke. 

CONNECTICUT. 

JEtna Silk Co. Sewing Silk and Twist. Norfolk. 

O. Atwood. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills and salesroom, New London. 

*Belding Bros. & Co. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills, Eockville ; also at 
Northampton, Mass., and Montreal, Canada. Salesrooms, 456 Broadway, 
New York ; 105 Summer street, Boston ; 56 West 4th street, Cincinnati ; 
130 Franklin street, Chicago ; 601 North 4th street, St. Louis ; 6th, cor. of 
Arch street, Philadelphia. L. C. Hall, Jr , & Co., Agents for Philadelphia 
house: 521 Market street, San FraDcisco, Carlson & Currier, Agents ; 
Belding, Paul & Co , Montreal, Canada. 

*Bottum, Phipps & Co. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills, Willimantic : sales- 
rooms, 56 Worth street, New York, and 105 Summer street, Boston. 

I H. Booth. Coach Laces. New Haven. 

*L. D. Brown & Son. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills, Middletown ; salesrooms, 
119 Summer street, Boston, and 439 Broadway, New York. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 109 

*Cheney Bros. Gros Grains, Brocades, Satins, Handkerchiefs, Ribbons, Trams, 

Organzines, and Fine Patent Spun Silks. Mills, Hartford and South 

Manchester ; salesrooms, 477 Broome street, New York. 
*0. So Chaffee & Son. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills and salesrooms, Mansfield 

Centre and Willimantic. 
R. S. Clark. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mount Carmel. 
*A. B. Fenner. Sewing Silk and Twist. Central Village. 
Charles R. Garratt. Belt Ribbons, Bonnet Ribbons. Factory, Golden Hill, 

Bridgeport, Conn. ; salesroom, Brainerd, Armstrong & Co., 469 Broadway. 
""Holland Manufacturing Co. Ira Dimock, Manager. Sewing Silk and Twist. 

Mills, Willimantic ; salesroom, 435 Broadway, New York. Agent, H. 

Eldridge. 
Hammond, Knowlton & Co. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills, Putnam. Sales- 
room, 79 Chambers street, New York. 
P. G. & J. S. Hanks. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills and salesroom, Gurley- 

ville. 
*J. H. Hayden & Co. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills, "Windsor Locks ; sales- 
room, Kingman & Freeman, agents, 57 Mercer street, New York. 
M. Hemin way & Sons' Silk Co. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills, Watertown; 

salesrooms, 78 Reade street and 99 Church street, New York. 
^Leonard Silk Co. Sewing Silk and Twist. Prest., J. H. Simonds, "Warehouse 

Point, Conn. Mills, at Rockville. Salesroom, 140 Church street, New 

York ; G. S. Palmer, pgent. 
Macfarlane Bros. Sewing Silk, Machine and Button-hole Twist. Mills, 

Mansfield Centre j salesroom, 43 "Walker street, New York. 
B. K. Mills & Co. Coach Lace, Fringes, Tassels, &c. Factory and salesroom, 

56 & 58 Cannon street, Bridgeport. 
J. S. Morgan. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills, South Coventry ; salesroom, 79 

Chambers street, New York. 
Norfolk Silk Co. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills and salesroom, Norfolk. 

Salesroom, Baldwin, Lowell & Co., 107 8th avenue, New York. 
Charles H Pardee. Coach Laces. New Haven. 
E. B. Smith. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills, Gurleyville ; salesroom, (Beld- 

ing Bros. & Co , Agents.) 456 Broadway, New York. 
P. "W. Turner & Son. Tram, Organzine, Sewing Silk, and Twist. Mills, 

Turnerville ; salesroom, 27 Greene street, New York. 
Wallingford Community. Sewing Silk and Twist. "Wallingford. G.D.Allen, 

Manager. 
A. "Washburn. Dealer in Sewing Silk and Twist. South Coventry. 
"Willimantic Silk Co. Hat Braids. "Willimantic. 
Winsted Silk Co. Sewing Silk and Twist. "Winsted. E. Potter, Manager. 



MASSACHUSETTS. 

Barr, Rider & Co. Dealers in Sewing Silks. Salesroom, 21 Summer street, 

Boston. 
Boston Elastic Fabric Co. Suspender "Webs, Garter Webs, Frills, Cords, and 

Braids. Mills, Chelsea; salesrooms, 175 Devonshire street, Boston ; 102 

Chambers street, New York. 



no THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

Burr, Brown & Co. Upholstery Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 85 Dev- 
onshire and 289 Washington streets, Boston. 

Henry Day. Eibbons. Factory and salesroom, 19 Franklin street, Boston. 

Downs & Adams. Sewing Silk and Twist. Factory, Boston Highlands ; office, 
5 Chauncy street. 

Fiedler, Moeldner & Co. Dress and Cloak Trimmings. Factory, 473 to 477 
Tremont street ; salesroom, 36 Winter street, Boston. 

Isaac Farwell, Jr., & Co. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills, Newton ; salesroom, 
32 Avon street, Boston. 

O. Fiedler & Co. Ladies' Dress Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 36 Win- 
ter street, Boston. 

A. W. French & Co. Gum Silks. Salesroom, 28 Winter street, Boston. 

Glendale Manufacturing Co. Kubber Elastics, Bands, &c. Mills, Easthamp- 
ton ; salesroom, 121 Duane street, New York. 

Glenwood Mills. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills, East Hampton. Salesroom, 
57 Mercer street, New York. 

*Lathrop Bros. Sewing Silk, Machine Twist, Tailor's Twist, &c. Mills and 
salesroom, Northampton. 

G. H. Mansfield & Co. Fish Lines. Factory and Salesroom, Canton. 

V. J. Mcssinger & Co. Dealers in Sewing Silk and Twist. 23 Dock Square, 
Boston. 

*Nonotuck Silk Co. Ira Dimock, President ; A. T, Lilly, Treasurer. Sewing 
Silk and Twist. Mills, Florence and Leeds ; salesrooms, 19 Mercer street, 
New York; 18 Summer street, Boston ; 459 Fifth Avenue, Chicago; 417 
and 419 North Fourth street, St. Louis ; 88 West Third street, Cincinnati. 

*Seavey, Foster & Bowman. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills, Canton; sales- 
rooms, 7 Mercer street, New York ; 40 Summer street, Boston ; 6 Wash- 
ington street, Chicago. 

*Smith & Rice . Sewings and Twist. Mills and salesroom, Pittsfield. 

*Springfield Silk Co. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills, Springfield. Sales- 
rooms, C. F. Lockhardt, Agent, 73 Leonard street, New York ; 81 High 
street, Boston ; 17 South 4th street, Philadelphia. 

Streeter & Mayhew. Machine Twist. Mills, Shelburne Falls. Salesroom, 
Kingman & Turner, agents, 57 Mercer street, New York. 

*William Skinner. Organzine, Sewing Silk, and Twist. "Unquomonk Silk 
Mills," Holyoke, Mass. ; salesroom, 43 Mercer street, New York. 

L. D. Suydam. Dealer in Sewing Silks. Salesroom, 8 Hamilton Place, 
Boston. 

*Luther J. Warner. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills and salesroom, North- 
ampton. 

H. L. Whitney. Dealer in Sewing Silk. Salesroom, Boston. 

Thomas Wilkins & Co. Dealers in Sewing Silks. Salesroom, Greene street, 
near Bowdoin, Boston. 



PENNSYLVANIA. 

*Aub, Hackenburg & Co. Sewing Silk and Twist. Factory, 244 to 248 North 
Front street ; salesrooms, 20 North 3d street, Philadelphia ; 216 Church 
street, New York ; 19 Light street, Baltimore ; 69 West 3d street, Cincin- 
nati ; 152 Fifth Avenue, Chicago. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 1 1 1 

Croxton & Wood. "Wayne Station, Germantown. 

Cunningham & Hill. Upholstery Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 204= 

Church street, Philadelphia. 
Davenport Bros. Upholstery Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, corner 

of Mosher and York streets, Philadelphia. 
H. L. Freyer. Ladies' Dress Trimmings. Factory, 25 South 8th street ; sales- 
room, 727 Jayne street, Philadelphia. 
E. H. Godshalk. Dress Trimmings, Fringes, <fcc. Factory and salesroom, cor 
12th and Buttonwood streets, Philadelphia ; 71 Franklin street, New York. 
*J. C. Graham Ladies' Dress and Cloak Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 

525 and 527 Cherry street, Philadelphia. 
Hensel, Colladay & Co. Ladies' Dress Trimmings. Factory and salesroom 

22 to 24 North 4th street, Philadelphia. 
S. E. & F. Hansell. Upholstery Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 419 

Race street, Philadelphia. 
L. M. Harned & Co. Upholstery Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, Bristol. 
J. T. Harrop. Sewing Silk and Twist. Philadelphia. 
B. Hooley & Son. Tram, Organzine, Fringe Silks, Sewing Silk and Twist. 

" Keystone Silk Mills ;" salesroom, 226 Market street, Philadelphia. 
*Williain H. Horstmann & Sons. Gum Silks, Ladies' Dress and Cloak Trim- 
mings of every description, Bibbons, Fringes, Floss, Upholstery Trim- 
mings, Coach and Carriage Laces and Trimmings, Jacquard Weaving, 
Military Equipments, Regalia, Theatrical Goods, Silk Flags, Bunting, 
Sashes, Searfs, &c. Factory and salesroom, corner of 5th and Cherry 
streets, Philadelphia ; salesroom, 410 Broadway, New York. 
*F. S. Hovey. Sewing Silk and Twist. Salesroom, 248 Chestnut street, Phila- 
delphia. 
*W. Itschner & Co. Bibbons. Mills, Tioga Station, Germantown ; salesrooms, 

233 Chestnut street, Philadelphia ; 70 Mercer street, New York. * 

T. Jones & Son. Silk Dyers. 110 and 112 Putnam street, Philadelphia. 
J. & A. Kemper. Ladies' Dress Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 33 South 

4th street, Philadelphia. 
Budolph Klauder & Co. Dyer. Cor. Howard and Oxford streets, Philadelphia. 
M. W. Lipper & Co. Dress Trimmings. "Keystone Braid Mills;" sales- 
rooms, 144 and 146 North 5th street, Philadelphia; 338 Broadway, New 
York ; and 49 Summer street, Boston. 
Charles Morel. Silk Dyer. 2219 Richmond street, Philadelphia. 
G. A Perkes & Co. Upholstery Trim mings. Factory and salesroom, 34 South 

21 street, Philadelphia. 
Joseph RDehm. Dealer in Sewing Silk and Twist. Omce, 47 South Fourth 

street, Philadelphia. 
*Sauquoit Silk Mfg. Co. (Factory at Philadelphia.) See New York State. 



MARYLAND. 

M. Hecht & Co. Neckwear, Dress Trimmings. Factory and salesroom, 43 

German street, Baltimore. 
G. Tallerman & Co. Dress and Upholstery Trimmings. 231 Frederick 

avenue, Baltimore. 
William B. Towles & Bro. Bibbons, Scarfs, &c 145 Baltimore street. 



1 1 2 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



MAINE. 



Haskell Silk Co. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills, Sacarrappa ; salesroom, 
Kingman & Freeman, agents, 57 Mercer street, New York. 



NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

Charles W. Kelsea & Co. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills and salesroom, 
Antrim. 



VERMONT. 

J. F. Stearns. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills and salesroom, Brattleboro. 



OHIO. 

F. Brogleman. Upholstery Trimmings. 204 Vine street, Cincinnati. 
John Franz. Fringes, Tassels, Cords and Gimps. 25 Oregon street, Cleveland. 
Hoffmeister & Deneal. Fringes, Dress Trimmings, &c. Factory and sales- 
room, 104 5th street, Cincinnati. 
F. Hoffmeister. Fringes, &c. 152 West 4th street, Cincinnati. 



ILLINOIS. 



Ederer & Peters. Upholstery Trimmings. 61 Washington street, Chicago. 
A. B. Fiedler. Upholstery Trimmings. 48 East Madison street, Chicago. 
E A. Jacobs. Upholstery, Dress and Military Trimmings. 106 to 110 South 
State street, Chicago. 

MISSOURI. 

Schact & Bro, Upholstery Trimmings. Market Street, St. Louis. 



KANSAS. 

*E. V. de Boissiere. Eibbons and Ladies' Dress Trimmings. Mills, Silkville, 
Williamsburgh, P. O. 

CALIFORNIA. 

The California Silk Manufacturing Co. Rogers, Meyer & Co. Tram, Organ- 

zine, Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills, South San Francisco. Agents, 

William Macdonald & Co. Salesroom, 13 Post street. 
Higinbotham & Co. San Jose. 
Joseph Neumann. Silk culturist and manufacturer of Silk Flags, &c. 1142 

Folsom street, San Francisco. 
Pacific Factory. William Englander. Silk Fringes and Gimps. Factory and 

salesroom, 751 Market street, San Francisco. 
Union Pacific Silk Manufacturing Co. George C. Bode, President. Ribbons. 

Mills, San Francisco. 

CANADA. 

*Belding, Paul & Co. Sewing Silk and Twist. Mills, Montreal. See Beld- 
ing Bros. & Co., Connecticut. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 1 13 



IMPOETEES OF EAW SILK. 



NEW YORK CITY. 

*C. A. Auffmordt & Co 33 and 35 Greene street 

*John C. Caswell & Co 87 Front street 

Pearon, Low & Co. Shanghai Agency, 112 Front street 

*H. Fogg & Co 32 Burling Slip 

.Fraser, Farley & Co. Yokohama. Ira Bursley, Agent 64 South street 

Gossler & Co 134 Pearl street 

*Hadden & Co 33 Chambers street 

Hewlett & Torrance 69 Wall street 

Leisler & Somnierhoff 85 Grand street 

"*W. Itschner & Co .70 Mercer street 

Lewis Bros 94-96 Thomas street 

"*A. A. Low & Bros , 31 Burling Slip 

*E. Ludwig, Agent 19 Mercer street 

♦William F. Milton & Co 159 Maiden Lane 

Morewood & Co 71 South street 

13. Oelbermann & Co 57-63 Greene street 

Oelrichs & Co 2 Bowling Green 

J. C. Phillips & Co 130 Water street 

Hussell & Co. Hong Kong. S. W. Pomeroy, Agent 59 Wall street 

* William Byle 54 Howard street 

^William H. Smith & Son 77 William street 

Wm. Stens & Co 477 Broome street 

*Vogel & Co. ; Benjamin D. Smith 113 Water street 

*Swire Bros. ; A. H. Gibbes, Agent 93 Wall street 

*John T. Walker 81 Pine street 

Philip Wamsley & Co 353 Canal street 

*Wetmore, Cryder & Co 74 South street 

♦Wood, Payson & Colgate 64 Pine street 

*0. Yamada and M. Fukui 58 Walker street 



BEOKEES IN EAW SILK. 

H. S. Allen 27 Greene street 

*P. Busch Cor. Grand and Mercer streets 

*D O'Donoghue & Co „« 51 Greene street 

*Geo. M. Haywood 90 Franklin street 

♦Rowland Johnson , 54 Beaver street 

*B. Richardson & Son .-. 5 Mercer street 

♦Charles F. Simes , 46 Howard street 



INDEX TO SUBJECTS. 



Page. 

Adulteration of Kaw Silk 11, 70 

American Silk Goods Directory 103 

Aniline Black 55 

Aniline colors and dyes 55 to 58, 143 

Arnmres 45 

Asia, direct trade with 7, 13 

Assorting 16, 25, 2(5 

Banding S3 

Banking 124 

Battons 137, 1 51 

Belt-hooks and Belting 133 

Bills of Exchange 124 

Bindings 49, 148. 152 

Black Dress Silks See " Dress Silks." 

Blocking Machines 137 

Blonde Lace 53,131 

Braids 49, 133, 135, 139, 140, 148 

" tubular 48,130 135 

Braided Cord 48 

Bretonne Lace 53, 131 

Brocades 33, 34, 35, 39, 42, 136, 156 

Brocatelle i 8 

Brokers in Raw Silk 113, 126 

Bronzes 126 

Brussels Lace 53, 131 

Bunting 142 

Button-hole Twist 129,135,140 

Buttons < 48 

Cabinets 22 

Cardinal color _. .. 56 

Centennial Exhibition 8, 20, 23, 41, 45, 56 

Chotteau Leon, address of c 89 

Chotteau, Leon, reply to address of „ . . c 95 

Chinese Good= 126 

Chinese Raw Silk , See ' Baw Silk, " 

Church Goods 142 

Cleaner and Cleaning , 21, 25, 137 

Clearer-cloth 1 33 

Cloisonne 126 

Cochineal 143 

Collets 150 

Colors — Classification of 20 

Colors - in gen eral See ' ' Dye " and " Dyeing. " 

Commission Merchants 124,125,126,127 

Companies, Manufacturing, Dividends of _ 97 

Compass Boards 137 

Competition , sewings and twist trade 22 

Cordonnet 48, c7 

Cords 48, 49, 130, 133, 135, 148 



Il6 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

Page. 

Country Silk 11 

Credits, commercial and travelers' 124 

Crefeld Goods 42 

Damasse Silks See ' ' Brocades. " 

Dealers in American Silk Manufactures 103 to 112 

Declaration of Independence, Silk Manufacturers 14 

Directory, American Silk Goods 1C1 to 113 

Dividends of Manufacturing Companies 97 

Double-faced Ribbons 71 

Doublers, Doubles and Doubling .... 25, 137, 148 

Drafts : 124 

Dramming 16. 25, 26 

Dress Silks. 28 to 33. 57, 58, 72, 128, 132, 139, 141, 145„ 149, 150, 152, 153, 155, 156 

Duties paid by United States Imports 76, 86, 87 

Dyeing 20, 25, 55 to 58 138, 141, 155 

Dye— pure or weighted, Dress Silks 30 31, 138, 140, 155 

" " '• Linings 36,140 

" " " Ribbons and Braids 46,49,140 

Sewings and Twist 17,18,139,140,143 

" " Spun Silk 39 

«■ " " Umbrellas 36 

in general 58, 138, 140, 155 

Dyes, Dyestuffs, and Dyewoods 57, 143 

Elgings 131 

Education in public schools 98 

Embossing 149 

Embroidery Silk 129, 140 

England, Free trade in Silk Fabrics 93, 95, 96 

European Weaving 29, 30 

" Raw Silk See • « Raw Silk." 

Exports, Raw an 1 Mmuf'd Silks from France , 90 

" Silk Manufactures from France 76, 81, 82, 83 

" United States to France 76, 84, 98 

Fans 126 

Filatures 10, 11 

Filature-silk 11, 126 

Filature-waste 37 

Filena Scarfs .... 52 

Filling Machines 153 

Finishing See " Re-finishing " 

Fire Insurance 147, 1 48 

Flags 56, 142 

Florentines 35 

Eloss and Floss Silk 37, 140 

Fluctuations of Raw Silk See "Raw Silk." 

Foulards 55, 1 56 

France, Silk Manufacture in ... . 98 

Franc ?j Trade and Progress of 89, 90 

' ' Franco- American Commerce " . . 88 

Free Trade in Silk Fabrics 93. 95, 96 

French Exports. See 'Exports." 

French Imports of Silk Fabrics 92, 95 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 117 

Pagk, 

Fringes and Fringe Silk 47,48,57, 130, 133, 135 

Frisons 37 

Galloons 148, 152 

Gambier 31 

Gendarme Blue. . 56 

Gimp 49 

Gloves.. 142 

Greasy Silks.. 31 

Grenadine ... 33,34,42,72 

Gros Grain Ribbons 72 

Gros Grains (See also Dress Silks) 34, 140, 141, 145, 149, 156 

Guipure Lace 51, 53 131 

Hair-nets ... 52, 131 

Hand-made Lace 54 

Handkerchiefs 41, 136, 139, 140, 141, 150, 152, 153, 155, 156 

Harnesses, and Harness- work ■. 45, 133, 151 

Heddles 133 

Home Consumption U S. Dutiable Imports 86, 87 

Hosiery and Hosiery Silk 133, 142 

Hydro-Extractors. 151, 1 53 

Imports of Raw Silk 113, 125, 126 127 

Imports of Raw Silk into U. S . , , s 13, 78, 79, 91 

11 " Silk Manufactures by France 92 95 

" " " "U.S... 7580,90,91 

" by United States from France 76, 85, 98 

of " " total dutiable 86 87 

Indigo , 143 

Insertions 131 

Insurance 147, 148 

Iron, salts of . . . , 31 

Italy, annual product, raw silk 12 

Jacquard Goods (see also ' Brocades ") 71, 72, 153, 155 

Machines 33, 39, 137, 151, 153 

Japan ese Goods - 126 

Raw Silk See "Raw Silk." 

Knitting-Silk 49, 59 

Knot, cost of. 26 

Knots in spooled thread 17 

Lace (silk) . 51 to 54, 72, 131 

Lathes 151 

Lead , acetate of 11 

Length and Strength See "Testing." 

Levantine , 36 

Light, effect of, on colors 57 

Linings 35,57 

Loading Silks See '• Dye, Pure or Weighted." 

Logwood 31,143 

London Market, Raw Silk 13, • 77 

Looms ... See "Power-looms." 

Machinery 8, 21, 33, 35, 40, 45. 49, 52, 133, 137, 150 

Machine-twist 14 to 23, 129, 133, 134, 135, 139, 140, 143, 144, 145 

Mails or Mailles , 150 



1 1 8 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

Page. 

Manufacturers of Silk io the United States 103 to 112 

Manufactures of Silk, Product in U. S 71 

* ' " Imports of. See " Imports. " 

" " French exports of See "Exports." 

Manufacturing Profits, New England 97 

Marabouts 130 

Marcelines 35 

Matting 126 

Measuring Machines 21 

Members, Silk Association of America 65 

Millinery Silks 43,57, 128, 133, 139, 152, 153, 155,156 

Mill-waste 37 

Mitts 131 

Mohair (Braids) 133, 135, 139 

Moire antique 35 

Neckerchiefs and Neckties See '■ Ties." 

Nets See " Hair-nets " 

Nippers s , 150 

Nubias 131 

Officers Silk Association of America 63 

Operatives, benefit of protection to 98 

• ' best class of 9 

' ' learning their work . .-. 29 

" steadily employed 73 

" wages of. .. 73 

Organzine 25, 26, 29, 128, 130, 133, 156 

Ounce-goods 17 

Parasol Silks 154 

Passementerie 47, 48, 49, 142 

Paterson Board of Trade 99 

Paterson, number of silk operatives . . 73 

Peacock colors 56 

Pebrine 12 

Piese-goods, various 33 to 36, 139 

Picking ,. 25,26 

Potash, Prussiate of. . . 31 

Power-Looms , 8, 29, 45, 72, 137, 151, 153 

Prices of Goods, decline in 8, 22 

Printing 154 

Printed Silks 39,42,156 

Pure Dye See " Dye, Pure or Weighted." 

Purl Lacs and Purlings 53, 131 

Quilling 25 

Quilling-frames 137 

Quill winders 151, 153 

Raw Silk, Brokers t 113 

" Chinese. 11, 70, 125, 126 

<• European. 12, 70, 77, 78, 126, 141 

" " Fluctuations 13,69,73 

" Importers 113,125,141 

'• " Imports See "Imports." 

" Italian 12,141 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 1 19 

Page. 

Haw Silk, Japanese 11,70,125,126 

" Market, May, 77 to 73 69 

" Quality used 25, 28, 51 

" Keeling 24 

" " Where produced 10 

Heeds ' 133 

Reeling and Re-reeling 10, 11, 24 

Reel-Mill 123 

Re-finishing 34, 35, 141, 149 

Regalia 142 

Reply to M. Chotteau's Address 94 

Report of Secretary, Silk Association of America 69 

Revenue Laws Committee, " " " 99 

Ribbons 40, 44 to 46, 71, 128, 132, 141, 148, 154, 156 

Ring travelers 133 

Roller-cloth 133 

Safety-fund Law 147 

Saponaire 135 

Sashes 128, 156 

Satin de Chine , 35, 140, 145 

•Satin and Satins , 33, 34, 35, 39, 42, 156 

Satin-gros-grain Ribbons , . 71 

Satin Ribbons 71 

.Satirjs, printed 39 

Satin stripes 34 

Savings-bank Deposits 73, 97 

.Scarfs and Scarfings 42, 52, 131, 139, 141, 150, 152, 153, 155 

Schappe Ribbons 40, 46 

Science News 146 

Scourers 135, 137 

.Serges 35,36,140,145,153,155 

Sewing-Machine 15 

.Sewing-Silk 14 to 23, 57, 58, 129, 134, 135, 139, 140, 143, 144, 145 

.Shawls 131 

Shuttles 133,150 

Silk Association of America, Annual Meeting 74 

" " " Annual Report 61 

" " " Members 65 

Silk Culture 10 

Silk Industry Association of Paterson, N. J 99 

Slasher-cloth . . 133 

Smyrna Lace 53 

Soaps 135,137,150 

.Soapy Silks 31 

Spanish Lace 53, 131 

Spectrum, solar 56 

Spinning and Spinning-frame 25, 123 

.Spools and Spool printing 21, 153, 154 

Spun Silk 37 to 40, 127, 156 

Standard Dye 17 

.Statistics — Explanation of Tables 75 

" French Trade 89,91 



120 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

Page. 

Straw braid and hats 126 

Stretcher 21 

Strikes absence of. 7$ 

Suez Canal 13, 70 

Swivel cloth 56 

Swords 142 

Tariff, Effect of 8, 69 

" proposed in Treaty . . 95 

" on S.lks. European States 91, 92 

United States. 92: 

Tassels 48,19,130 

Teas 126 

Telegraphic Transfers 124r 

Testing, Sewings and Twist 15, 19, 20 

" Silks —Dress Goods . . 32; 

" '■ Fringes 48- 

Theatrical Goods 142. 

Thread Lace 53, 131 

Thrown Silks 125 

Ties and Tie Silks 42, 131. 136, 139 141, 150 152, 153, 155 

Tinsel thread Eibbons 72 

Torchon Lace . 53 

Tram 25,26,29,128,130,133,156 

Treaty, Franco-American — proposed.. 88. 95, 97 

Trimmings 47 to 50, 57, 130, 131, 133, 139, 142, 148. 

Tuoular Braid 48, 130, 135 

Twilled Silks 136 

Twist See < Machine Twist." 

Twist, Fringe 130, 133, 138 

Twhting 16,25. 

Umbrellas and Umbrella Silk 36, 133 

Uniformity in Thickness of Thread 16, 24 

Unite 1 States Imports. ... See " Imports.'' 

" " Rank in textile industry , 98 

Upholstery trimmings and brocatelle 8, 142, 

Valenci nnes Lace 52. 

Value of Manut'a ctured Silks 71 

Veils and Veiling 8. 131 

Velvets 31,152. 

Warping 25 

Waste-Silk 24 37 

Watering 35,141,149 

Weaving — preparatory processes , . 24 to 27 

Weighing 16 

Weighting Silks See " Dye, Pure or Weighted." 

Windeisand Winding 16, 25, *6, 137, 151, 353 

Wire-goo Is 133 

Wool and Worsted "Zephyr," &c 131,142 

Yard-goods IT 



Business Announcements. 



Errata. 

On page 135, line 2, ^ 

122, line 34, )>for "J. H. Hayden & Co.," read J. H. Hayden & Son. 
109, line 17, J 



for "Neuberger Braid Co.," read Neuburger Braid Co. 



139, line 8, J 

107, line 44, J 
139, line 14, for " L. & H. Neuberger & Co.," read L. & H. Neuburger & Co. 

149, line 7, J f or 5 2 and 64 Worth Street (salesrooms of Herman Simon), 

108, line 17, ) read 57-63 Greene Street. 



Business Announcements, 



122 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



Business Announcements 



CATALOGUE OF NAMES. 



Allen, Edwin 

Allen, H. S., 

Atwood, Crawford & Co. ,'.... 

Barnes & Peel, 

Beach & Co., 

Belding Bros. & Co., 

Brainerd, Armstrong & Co. , . . 
Brown, Brothers & Co. (N. Y. ), 
Brown Bros. & Co. (R. I. ), . . 

Brown, L. D., & Son, 

Busch, P., 

Caisse Generale Insurance Co. , 

Caula & Chaffanjon, 

CharTanjon, C. , : . . 

Cheney Brothers, 

Comby, John, 

Continental Insurance Co., , ... 

Cutter, John D. , & Co. , 

Danforth Loc. & Machine Co. , 

Dexter, Lambert & Co. , 

Dienelt & Eisenhardt, 

Eastwood, Benjamin, 

Eogg, H., &Co., 

Franke, Louis 

Funke, H. , , 

Gifford, Sherman & Innis, . . . 

Grant & Co. , 

Grimshaw Brothers, 

Hawks, M. J., & Co., ... 

Hayden, J. H., & Co., 

Hayes & Crawford, 

Heminway & Sons' Silk Co. , . 

Hinze, A., & Co., 

Holbrook Manufacturing Co., 

Holmes, W. D., 

Horstmann, Wm. H., & Sons, 

Itschner, Werner, & Co. , 

Jackson, James, 



PAGE. 

54 
26 



53 
33 
43 
44 

45 
24 

33 

43 
26 

48 
41 
45 
56 
49 
47 
40 

2 3 
3 2 
53 

37 
25 
3° 
3 2 
43 
50 
55 
52 
35 
50 
29 

49 

35 

53 
42 

41 

37 



v: 



Jennings Lace Works, 

Johnson, Rowland, 

Lips, Nathan & Kiippers, .... 

Lockett, John, 

Loth, Joseph, & Co. , . .' 

Lucas, Samuel, 

Ludwig, E. , Agent, 

McKeone, Chas. , Son & Co., 

Miller & Brown, . 

Morlot, George, e 

Neuberger Braid Co. , 

Nightingale Bros. , 

Oneida Community, 

O'Keefe, E., ' 

Paterson Dyeing & Finishg. Co. , 

Paterson Soap Works, 

Pocachard, Anthony, 

Russell & Co. , 

Ryle, William, 

Sauquoit Silk Manufg. Co. , . . 

Science News, 

Seavey, Foster & Bowman, . . . 

Sherratt, Thomas, 

Simon, Herman, 

Smith, Wm. H., & Son, 

Smith, Wright, 

Springfield Silk Co. , 

Stearns, John N. , & Co. , . . . . 

Strange, Wm. , & Co. , 

Sutro Brothers, 

Thorp, Robert, & Sons, 

Uhlinger, W. P. , 

Yogel & Co. , 

Walker, John T. , 

Wamsley, Philip, & Co. , 

Weidmann, J. , 

Yamada, O., & M. Fukui, .... 



L GE. 

3 1 

26 

49 

5 2 
54 

39 

27 

37 
5 2 
55 
39 
41 

36 

54 
14 

50 
5 2 
24 

2 5 
33 
46 

34 
39 
49 
2 5 
53 
33 
36 
28 

35 
48 

27 

2 5 
27 

38 
26 



THE SILK COCOS OF AMERICA. 



123 



Danforth Locomotive & Machine Company, 

Faterson 

John Cooke, Pres. 
James Cooke, Supt. 



JST. T. 

J. T. Blauvelt, Vice Fres. 
W.M. Berdax, Sec. and Treas. 




SILK REEL MILL — Spindles can be driven either way without 
cutting the bands by simply using a cross or opsn belt. 




SILK SPINNING FRAME.— For either friction roller or positive 
•motion. These frames have a long drag, which gives the thread a good 
chance to get a. full twist without kink or curl ; a perfect driving apparatus 
and an improved step for oiling. 

New York Office, 115 BROADWAY, H. A. Allen, Agent, 



1 24 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

BROWN BROTHERS & CO. 

59 WALL STREET, NEW YORK, 

Buy and Sell Bills of Exchange on Great Britain anil Ireland: 

ISSUE COMMERCIAL AND TRAVELERS' CREDITS, 

AVAILABLE IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD! 

MAKE TELEGRAPHIC TRANSFERS OF MONEY 

Between this and other Countries, through London: 

COLLECT DRAFTS DRAWN ABROAD ON ALL POINTS IN 
THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA. 

ALSO, 

DRAFTS DRAWN IN THE UNITED STATES ON 
FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



BROWX, SHIPLEY & CO., BROWN, SHIPLEY & CO., 

26 Chapel St., LIVERPOOL. Founder's Court, Lothbury, LONDON. 

RUSSELL <£ CO., 

Commission Merchants, 

Ho!"g Kong, Canton, Amoy, Foochow, Shanghai and 

Hankow, China. 



BOSTON AGENCY: 

J. MURRAY FORBES, 
30 CENTRAL STREET. 



NEW YORK OFFICE: 

S. W. POMERO.Y, Jr. 
59 WALL STREET. 



— +> » <» 



HONG KONG AND SHANGHAI 

BANKING CORPORATION. 

CAPITAL, (paid up,) ....- - - - $5,000,000 

RESERVE FUND, - - - - - 1,300,00c 

Nezu Fork Agency, 5? WALL STREET. 

. Branches and Agencies at London, Bombay, Calcutta, Singapore, Manila, 
Saigon, Hong Kong, Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo, Shanghai, Hankow, Yokohama,, 
Hiogo and San Francisco. 

8. W. POME llO Y, Jr., Agent. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 1 25 



# / / 





uitawi ^Zs&'uzej 



zJloazv and \JAiown ^yi/Ad, 

£<4< fflotevtit/ &heet, S¥e-w tfMrtd. 

H. FOGG & CO., 

SHIPPING AND COMMISSION MERCHANTS, 

IMPORTERS OF 

RAW SILK, 

32 BURLING SLIP, NEW YORK, AND SHANGHAI, CHINA. 

Also, GENERAL AGENTS CHINA and JAPAN TRADING COMPANY (Limited). 

Branches — Shanghai, Nagasaki, Kobe and Yokohama. 
Advances on consignments to — 

Dealers in productions of — ■ 

JOHN T. WALKER, 

IMPORTER OF 

RAW SILK, 

81 PINE STREET. 

W. H. SMITH (STSON, 

IMPORTERS OF 

Olaima, a,md Japan 



77 WILLIAM STREET, 

NEW YORK. 



126 . THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



O. YAM AD A & M. FUKUL 

N. Y. Representatives of 

NIHONMATSU FILATURE SILK CO, 

AND R. SANO & CO., JAPAN, 

,-8 WALKER STREET, 

P. O. Bar 2 S rb. IST^^TV "STOlrlS:. 



P. BUSCH, 

Broker in Raw Silk, 

107 GRAND STREET, 

Corner of Mercer, NEW YORK. 



Established 1850. P. O. Box 2427. 

ROWLAND JOHNSON, 

BROKER AND COMMISSION MERCHANT IN 

Raw Silk, Fans, Matting, 

STRAW BRAID AND HATS, ANTIQUE AND 
MODERN BRONZES, CLOISONNE. 

CHOICE FAMILY TEAS A SPECIALTY. 
5 4 BEAVER STREET, NEW YORK. 

ZE3I. ;S. ^ILjlliEIsr, 

broker in 
China, Japan and European Raw Silk, 

Chinese and Japanese Goods, 

No. 27 GREENE STREET, NEW YORK. 




THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 127 

. LUDWIG, 

AOENT FOR 

ARLES-DUFOTJR & CO. 
General Commission Merchants 

y 

— A N D — 

IMPORTERS OF RAW SILK, 

19 Mercer Street, 

New York. 



LYONS, 




PARIS, 


ST. ETIENNE, 




MARSEILLES, 


BALE, 




CREFELD, 


ZURICH, 




MILAN, 


SHANGHAI, 


YOKOHAMA. 


HONG KONG, 



VOGEL .■■& CO. 

Commission Meeohants, 

Hong Kong, Canton and Shanghai, 

CHINA. 

Represented by 

H. E. MORING & CO. 

113 WATER STREET, NEW YORK. 



PHILIP WAMSLEY & CO., 



IMPORTERS OF 



353 CANAL ST., NEW YORK. 



128 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



WM. STRANGE & CO., 

Silk Manufacturers, 



PATERSON, NEW JERSEY. 



STRANGE $ BRO., Agents. 

42 GREENE STREET, NEW YORK. 



SILK RIBBONS, 

Sashes and Dress Silks. 



Prima Donna Brail Colore! Dress Ms. 



GOLDEN OPINION BRAND BLACK DRESS GOODS. 



MILLINERY SILKS. 



Trams and Organzines. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



129 



COPT OP AWARD TO 



M. HEMINWAY & SONS' SILK COMPANY. 



IipiipON/L EXHIBITION 

PHILADELPHIA, 1876. 

The United States Centennial Commission 
has examined the Report of the Judges and 
•accepted the following reasons, and decreed 
an award in conformity thei-ewith. 





REPORT ON 



Philadelphia, Nov. 13, 1876. 

AWARDS. 



PRODUCT, SEWING SILK. 

Name and Address of Exhibitor, M. Heminway & Sons' Silk Co. 



The undersigned, having examined the product herein described, respectfully 
recommends the same to the United States Centennial Commission for Award for the 
following reasons : 

" For a Full Assortment of Colored and Black Machine and Sewing Silk." 

"PERFECT IN QUALITY OF MATERIAL, COLOR AND WORKMANSHIP.'* 

Signed, GEBHARD, Judge. 



APPROVAL OF GROUP JUDGES. 
Charles Le Boutilliee, A. Behmee, Charles J. Ellis, John G. Nesser, 

Elliott C. Cowdin, Hayami, A. Daninos, John L. Hayes. 

A true copy of the record. Signed by FRANCIS A. WALKER, 

Chief of Bureau of Awards* 

A. T. Goshorn, Director General. J. R. Hawley, President. J. L. Campbell, Secretary. 

Given by authority of the TJ. S. Centennial Commission. 

AMERICAN INSTITUTE EXHIBITION, 

NEW YORK, 1877. 
NEW YORK, 1878. 

New York, January nth, 1878. 
Copy of the Judges' Report in Depart- 
ment 3, Group 3, at the 46th Exhibition 
of the American Institute, held in the 
City ©f New York, October and Nov- 
ember, 1877. 

No. 1425. 

Sewing Silks and MacWm Twist, Embroidery and Button Hole Twist. 

M. HEMINWAY & SONS' SILK CO., 78 READE ST., NEW YORK. 

"FOR QUALITY OF MATERIAL USED, FINISH, EVENNESS, GREAT 
VARIETY AND SUPERIORITY OF SHADES AND COLOR?, WE THINK 
THESE ARTICLES AS NEAR PERFECTION AS THEY CAN BE MADE." 

"We consider thb exhibit of great value and decided superiority." 

Medal of Superiority Awarded. 

A true copy of the report on file. JOHN W. CHAMBERS, Secretary. 





MANUFACTORY, WATERTOWN, CONN. 
PRINCIPAL SALESROOMS, 78 READE and 99 CHURCH STS., 



130 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



Louis Franke. Henry W. Struss. 



Louis Franke, 

MANUFACTURER OF 

I_. JL. TD I IE S 7 

Dress A Cloak Trimmings, 

(Braided Cord, 

Tubular Braid, 

Fringes, Marabouts, 

Cords and Tassels, dro. 



FACTORY : 

489 Broadway & 444 Broome St.., 

NEW YORK. 



ALSO, MANUFACTURER OF 



ORGANZINE, TRAM, TWIST, FRINGE SM, fc 

FACTORY, PATERSON, NEW JERSEY. 



OFFICE AND SALESROOM : 

444 Broome St., cor. Broadway, 

NEW YORK. 



THE SILK- GOODS OF AMERICA. 



T 3t 



JENNINGS LACE WORKS. 




LACE WORKS, AT PARK AYE. and HALL ST. 

BROOKLYN, N. Y. 

Salesrooms, 428 Broome St., New York. 

MANUFACTURERS OF THE LEADING STYLES OF 

SILK LACE GOODS, 

FOR DRESS TRIMMINGS, MILLINERY PURPOSES AND LADIES' NECK WEAR. 

WE MANUFACTURE AND HAVE IN STOCK, 

GUIPURE, THREAD, BLONDE LACES; BRUSSELS, SPANISH, 

AND THE NEW BRETONNE LACE EDGINGS, INSERTIONS, 

AND SCARFING3; AND ALSO SCARFS, SILK 

VEILINGS AND PURLINGS, Etc., Etc. 

SILK LACE MITTS and also HAIR NETS 

IN GREAT VARIETY. 

ZEPHYR WOOL (PATENT). PURL LACE SHAWLS & NUBIAS. 

Centennial Diploma and Medal awarded to our Goods. 

We are the only manufacturers of this class of goods in America, and have every 
facility for producing the best and most fashionable Laces — all of which are made of pure 
silk. Our machinery is from the most celebrated makers in England, and the designers, 
draughtsmen and artisans whom we have induced to come from England and France 
have had large experience, and are all skilled in their several branches. Our silks are 
dyed on our own premises by competent dyers, and we can soon produce any new shades 
that may be desired. We offer our goods to the Wholesale Trade at prices lower than 
the same quality of goods are offered by the Importers. As we have a great variety of 
lace machinery, we are prepared to make to order any desirable styles that may be 
wanted. 

Our goods are warranted in every respect. 

Price List and Samples will be forwarded when desired. 

A. G. JENNINGS, Proprietor, 

428 Broome Street, N. Y. 



I3 2 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



DEXTER, LAMBERT & CO., 



MANUFACTURERS OF 



Silk Dress Goods, 

EIBBONS, &c. 

33 & 35 GREENE STREET, N. Y. 

Factories, PATERSOH, H. J. 



GOLD MEDAL GROS GRAIN 

C. P. IMPERIAL. 

H. FUNKE, 



MANUFACTURER OF 



SILK RIBBONS. 



SALESROOM: 



19 GREENE STREET, NEW YORK. 



Factory, COLLEGE POINT, L. I. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 133 



BROWN BROS. & CO., 



MANUFACTURERS AND DEALERS IN 



Supplies for Silk, Cotton and Woolen Mills. 

Reeds, Ring Travelers, Harnesses, 

Belt Hooks, Wire Heddles, Wire Goods, 

Braided Banding, Roller Cloth, Twisted Banding, 

Slasher Cloth, Shuttles. Clearer Cloth, 

LEATHER BELTING, &c. 

PRO VTDEN OB 7 IFL. I., XT. S. ^_ 

SPRINGFIELD SILK CO., 

MANUFACTURERS OF 

MACHINE TWIST, TRAMS ill ORGANMBS, 

UNDER PATENTS OF H. A. CHAPIN. 

MILLS AT SPRINGFIELD, MASS. 

SALESROOMS : 

7 3 Leonard Street, NEW YORK; 81 High Street, BOSTON; 

77 South Fourth Street, PHILADELPHIA. 

D. A. BARNES. J. T. PEEL. 

BARNES & PEEL, 

Manufacturers of EXTRA SERIE 

SILK & MOHAIR BRAIDS, 

Cords, Organzine and Tram, Trimmings, &c. 
BEAVER MILL, PATERSON, N.J. 

SAUQUOIT SILK MANUFACTDRISGCa 

MANUFACTURERS OF 

ORGANZINE, TRAM, TWIST, FRINGE, HOSIERY SILKS, 
and SPECIALTIES FOR WEAVING PURPOSES. 

UMBRELLA CLOTH A SPECIALTY. 

C!ATTr»TTAT«P TNT ST PHILADELPHIA OFFICE: 

M ' S ^ SCR ANTON, PENN. C ° r - ^ m ^ Avenue and Rand # Street - 

New Yoke Office: 
PHILADELPHIA. ^ mm ^ 

LEWIS R. STELLE, Pres. RICHARD ROSSMASSLER, Trias, 



*34 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



Manufacturers of f 

SEWINGS 



AND 



Machine Twisty 

FOR SHOE, 

CLOTHING, 

And other Manufacturing Purposes, 

and for FAMILY USE. 



" LION," 

" EUREKA," 

"BAY STATE," 

"EXCELSIOR." 



OFFICES: 



40 SUMMER STREET, BOSTON; 

7 MERCER STREET, NEW YORK ; 

6 WASHINGTON STREET, CHICAGO. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 135 



ESTABLISHED 1828. 



J. H. HAYDEN & CO., 

(Late HASKELL & HAYDEN,) 

SILK MANUFACTURERS, 

WINDS OR LOCKS, CONK 

We make a Specialty of Sewing Silks. We were awarded a Gold Medal 
by the American Institute in 1838, "For the best Sewing-Silk." Our 
Award 'from the International Exhibition, Philadelphia, 18/6, was "For 
Slack and Medium Twist Sewing- Silk, of great brilliancy, strength and 
regularity. " 

WE ALSO MANUFACTURE 

MACHINE AND BUTTON HOLE TWIST, FRINGE SILK, ETC. 

Our Senior has been engaged in the Silk Business since 1831. 

STJTRO BROTHERS 

Factory and Office : 35 & 37 WOOSTER STREET, 

3NTE-W" YORK. 

SILK, MOHAIR, COTTON At(D (JILT BRAIDS, 

IN BULK, FOR MANUFACTURERS. 

TUBULAR BRAIDS AND BRAIDED CORDS. 

STAR, SOUTACHE, RICK-RACK AND LOOP BRAIDS, put up on Patent 
Cards, in 3 yds , 4^ yds. and 6 yds. Skeins. 

TRAIIE MARK 

Measurement ^jj j i ijfjh i ii "wi. i iiri^ L n, i Re- 
issued Jan. 6, 1874, and 

Guaranteed, E n„v. is, w 5 . 



• THE HOLBROOK M'F'G CO., 

MANUFACTURERS OF 

SOAPS, SAPONAIRE AND WOOL SCODBBRS 




FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF 

FLAX, COTTON, LINEN, SILK, WOOLEN and WORSTED GOODS. 

FACTORY, Southwest cor. of Washington and Vestry Streets, 
Two Streets South of Canal St., viz: Nos. 420, 422 &. 424 Washington Street. 

Office, 424 WASHINGTON ST., 

T>. O. ZBOiXl 3998. 

BOBEBT GASTEN, XT pT lr T 7AnT/ 

G. B. K. SMITH, NEW YORK, 

LOEENZO SNOW, 



136 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

JOHN N. STEARNS & CO., 

458 BROOME STEEET, 

NEW YORK. 



MANUFACTURERS OF 

PLAIN AND BROCADE 

Dr.ess Silks 

Twilled Silks. 

/ 

IN ALL COLORS, 

For Tie and Millinery Purposes. 

ALSO, 

SILK HANDKERCHIEFS. 



FACTORIES : 
213 to 22 r East 42c! Street, 



AND 



214 to 224. East 43d Street, 
NEW YORK. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 1 37 



ESTABLISHED 1854. 




f , SOU k co - 
Soap Manufacturers, 

Philadelphia, Pa. 

Make all grades of Soaps suitable for Silk and Woolen Goods Manufacturers. 

"LYONS SILK SOAP." 

An Olive Oil Soap of superior quality, specially adapted for Fancy Colored and Fine 
. Silk Work, and is capable of doing a large amount of work at a small cost. 

"OLEINE SILK SOAP." 

A pure Soap made from Brown Oil, specially recommended for Black and Colored 
Silks, and an excellent article for Woolen Goods. 

"Palm Oil Silk Soap." 

A pure Vegetable Oil Soap, highly recommended for Soaking, and successfully used 
for this purpose by the largest Silk manufacturers of the Country. 

" LOTURA." 

It will pay every manufacturer to investigate the merits of this article as a Scourer. 
We shall be pleased to furnish sample and particulars upon application. 

BENJAMIN EASTWOOD. 

General Machinist, 

21 to 23 Ramapo avenue, 

(Residence, 25 and 26 Ramapo Avenue,) 
Near Erie Depot, PATERSON, N. J. 

MANUFACTURER OF SILK MACHINERY. 

Winders, Doublers, Drawside Frames, French Broad Silk Quilling Frames, 

Ribbon Quilling Frames, Ribbon Blocking Machines, Power 

Warping, Beaming and Cleaning Machines, Looms, Etc. 

EASTWOOD'S NEW TRAVERSE MOTION, PAT'D MARCH 25, 1879. 
All kinds of Tools and Light Machinery made to order. Also, Models of every 
description made to order and strict confidence guaranteed. Repairing and Jobbing in 
all branches promptly attended to, and satisfaction guaranteed. 

JAMES JACKSON, 

20 ALBION AVENUE, - - PATERSON, N. J. 

Silk Machinery a Specialty. 

LOOMS, JACQUARD MACHINES, COMPASS BOARDS, 

FLYS OF ALL KINDS. 

Battons and every description of Machinery for Weaving Silk, made 

with care and promptness. 
PARTICULAR ATTENTION GIVEN TO REPAIRING. 



138 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



J. WEIDMANN, 

DYER 



-OF- 



Organzines, Trams and Sewings. 



BLACKS, 

PURE DYED OR WEIGHTED, 
A SPECIALTY. 



Pure and Weighted Colors 



FOR 



Dress Goods. 
FRENCH TWIST for FRINGE MANUFACTURERS, 

IN GREY OR DYED 

OONSTAISTTLY OINT HA.3STID. 

Dye Works, 
p^tersois) , n. j. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. i$9 

thomas 8herratt, 
Silk Manufacturer, 

DRESS GOODS, TIE SILKS, SCARFS and NOVELTY 

PIECE GOODS. 

Adjoining "DALE MILL," 

PJLT3SBOIT, IT. J. 

NEUBERGER BRAID CO. 

Silk and Mohair Braids and Trimmings 

Manufacturers of the Celebrated 

A. A. SILK BRAIDS, 

DinSTK MILL, PATERSON, N. J. 

A. WIETIilSBACH, Manager. 

L. & H. NEUBERGER & CO., Agents, 

39 antl 41 WALKER STREET, - NEW YORK. 

ONEIDA COMMUNITY. 

PURE DYE 

For Manufacturing purposes and Family Use. 
Mills and Office, ONEIDA, N. Y. 

SALESROOM : 

387 BEOADWAY, NEW YORK. 

THOMAS HANDY, Agent. 

SAMUEL LUCAS, 

Silk Manufacturer, 

DRESS GOODS, TIE SILKS, 

MILLINERY GOODS, HANDKERCHIEFS, &c. 

WASHINGTON MARKET BUILDING, 

PATERSON, N. J. 



140 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

JOHN D. CUTTER & CO., 

j&lk ^i\tLfkdttLfei% 

329 & 331 BROADWAY 

Corner Worth Street, NEW YORK. 



Newark City Silk Mills, 

HEWAEK, N. J. 



PURE DYE 

MACHINE TWIST, 

SEWING SILK, 

BUTTON HOLE TWIST, 
EMBROIDERY, 

FLOSS. 

PURE DYE 

GROS GRAINS, 
SERGES, 

SATINS DE CHINE, 

HANDKERCHIEFS, 

SEWING SILK BRAIDS. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 141 



NIGHTINGALE BROS., 



MANUFACTURERS OF 



Tie Silks, Dress Goods, 

HANDKERCHIEFS, SCARFS, Etc. 

BOUDLNOT MILL, \ p 

Ellison and Straight Srs. ) rAltitiUlN, IN. J. 

Paterson Dyeing and Finishing Co. 

IF 3 . DORaBVALi, nvLa.zia.g-or. 



Works, PATERSON, N. J. 

Office. 27 MERCER STREET, Hew York. 



Specialty for re-dyeing and re-finishing Silks, Velvets, Grenadines, Veil Goods, 
Ribbons, Mixed Goods, Silk Nets and Laces. 

WATERING and CYLINDERS. ALL GOODS ARE INSURED AGAINST FIRE 

Represented by J. J. DESCHAUX. 

VICTORY SILK FACTORY, 

COLUMBIA AVENUE, CORNER LINCOLN STREET, 

JERSEY CITY HEIGHTS, N. J. 



CAULA & CHAFFANJON, 

SILK MANUFACTURERS, 

Specialty, GROS GRAIN. 

Salesroom, 94 GRAND STREET, NEW YORK. 

OBERTEUFFER, ABEGG &. CO, Agents. 
Werner Itschner. ' Alfred Streuli. 

Werner Itschner & Co., 

MANUFACTURERS OF 

SILK RIBBONS, 



AND IMPORTERS OF 



, , JT ALI AN ,.;R£ W SILK, „ . , 

70 MERCER STREET,) . nffi j 233 CHESTNUT STREET, 

NEW YO.RK,. f . .., umces > \ PHILADELPHIA. 



142 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



Wm. H. Horstmann & Sons, 

FIFTH AND CHERRY STREETS, 

PHILADELPHIA. 



Manufacturers and Importers of 

Ladies' Di\ess and Cloak Tri^^ings, 
Bergmann & Co.'s Zephyr Worsted, 

GERMANTOWN WOOL, 
HOSIERY, GLOVES AND SMALL WARES, 

UPHOLSTERY, 

CARRIAGE AND UNDERTAKERS' TRIMMINGS. 




Established 1815. 

Horstmann Bros. & Co., 

FIFTH AND CHERRY STREETS, 
PHILADELPHIA. 



Manufacturers and Importers of 

Military, Society Regalia, Church, Theatrical 
Goods, Flags, Banners, Bunting. 

SWORDS AND SWORD BLADES A SPECIALTY. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 1 43 

L. D. BROWN & SOIST, 

MANUFACTURERS OF ALL KINDS OF 

MACHINE TWIST AND SEWING SILK. 



ESTABLISHED 18SO. 



Mills at 
MIDDLETOWN, 



Trade Marks : SALESROOMS : 

L.D. BROWN & SON, 



MlDDLETOWN MlLLS, 

Victor, 
Paragon, 
CONN ' Conn. Valley. 



439 BROADWAY, 
New York, 



And 119 SUMMER STREET, BOSTON. 

The attention of manufacturers is called to our PURE DYE brands, which are excelled by none. 

Atlas Works Aniline Dyes, 

Manufactured by 

Messrs. Brooke, Simpson, k Spilled 

London. 

Are superior to any other manufacture, and used more extensively by 
the Silk Dyers of Basle and Lyons. 

BEACH & CO., Hartford, Conn., 

General Agents for the United States, and importers of Cochineal, Indigo, 
and Dyeing Extracts. Special attention to fine Dyeing Drugs. 

Gifford, Sherman & Innis, 

Importers, Manufacturers and Dealers in 

Dye Woods, Extract of Logwood, Dye Stuffs, 

Chemicals and Dyeing Drugs, 

120 WILLIAM STREET, - - - NEW YORK. 

Office of Poughkeepsie Dye Wood Works. Established in 1 8 1 6. 



144 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 




THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



145 



Brainerd, Armstrong & Co., 

MANUFACTURERS OF 

jewing $ilk, ]d.h6\\ii\Q Vwijft, 

AND 

COLORED SPOOL SILK. 



TRADE MARKS: 

BRAINERD, ARMSTRONG & CO. ECLIPSE, 

CENTENNIAL, KEYSTONE, 

VICTORIA, STAR, 

AMERICAN, INDIA, 

iHOE AND LEATHER, IMPERIAL. 



SALESROOMS = 

469 Broadway, X. Y. 13 German St, Baltimore. 

238 Market St , Phila. 4 Fifth Ave., Pittsburgh. 

IMULUS; 

FLORENCE, MASS. WILLIMANTIC, CONN. 

FAVORITE SILK MILLS. 




C. CHAFFANJON, 

177, 179, 181, 183, 185, 187 $ 189 South Street, 
JERSEY CITY HEIGHTS, N. J. 

BLACK and COLORED GROS GRAIN. 

SERGES FOR COAT LIKINGS. 
SATIN D E CHINE. 



146 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



Science News: 



A SEMI-MONTHLY PERIODICAL, 



CONTAINING 



Tl\e I/kte^t Noveltieg ki\d x)igd.overie$. 

IN pi departments of scientific research, 



The readers of SCIENCE NEWS obtain promptly, in 
brief reports, the more interesting facts of progress in 
Science. By such means they save time, and avoid the 
technical details and slow publications of learned societies. 
A considerable portion of the pages of SCIENCE NEWS is 
devoted to the lighter themes of Natural. History. 

Edited by E. Ingersoll and Wm. C. VVyckoff. 



PRICE, - - - $2.00 PER YEAR 



WM. C. WYCKOFF, Publisher, 

44 HOWARD STREET, 

nSTEJW YORK. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 147 

TIE CONTINENTAL INSURANCE C0M1Y, 

100 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 
Assets and Investments, January 1st, 1879. 

^ross Assets, « $3,327,771 74 

Cash Capital, 1,000,000.00 

Net Surplus, 1,038,422.27 

Reserve for Unearned Premiums - - - 1,060,384.21 

Reserve, representing other claims and undivided profits, . 228,965.26 

INVESTED AS FOLLOWS: 

United States Bonds owned by Company, at market value, - $1,064,250.00 

State and other Bonds and Stocks owned by Company, - - 340,674.50 

•Cash on hand, ....... 160,793.08 

Demand Loans, (on Stocks and Bonds, worth $381,317), - 289,510.00 

Mortgage Loans, (on Real Estate, worth $1,997,125), - - 603,750.00 
Real Estate owned by Company, office buildings in New York and 

Brooklyn, - - - - - - - 690,000.00 

[Premiums due — unpaid and in course of collection, ... 142,984.54 

Interest and Rents accrued, ..... 35,809.62 

CYRUS PECK, Secretary. GEO. T. HOPE, President. 



Why Property Insure* in the Continental Ins, Co. is Safely tared 

6ecauS3 it has large Assets, including a cash capital of $1,000,000, and a net 
surplus as large. 

Bacause it conducts its business in accordance with the 
restrictions of the 

NEW YORK SAFETY FUND LAW. 

This Law restricts the dividends of the Company to seven per cent, per 

annum on its capital and surplus funds; a limited dividend, which requires a smaller 
sum than its income from investments, and compels the Company to accumulate 
all of the profits Of tile business and the remainder of its income from investments 
for the security of those insured. It compels the Company, instead of dividing to 
the stockholders all the profits, to deposit one-half of them with the N. Y. Ins. Dept. 
to protect policy holders whose property is not destroyed in the next great fire, and 
to add the other half of such profits to its capital and surplus held to pay the losses in 
such fire. 

Because IF NEW YORK or any other large city should burn, as did 
Chicago and boston, YOU WOULD NOT BE LEFT WITHOUT INSUR- 
ANCE, AS WERE THOUSANDS WHO HELD POLICIES IN THE ONE HUNDRED COMPANIES 
WHICH FAILED BY THOSE FIRES. THE CONTINENTAL POLICY WOULD BE GOOD FOR 
THE FULL TIME FOR WHICH IT WAS WRITTEN, NOTWITHSTANDING SUCH GREAT FIRE. 

Because by compliance with the Safety Fund Law, the Continental, instead of dividing 
greater sums among its stockholders (as it might have done but for this Law') 
has, in less than jive years, added over one million of dollars to its net surplus, 
thus better securing its policy-holders. 

Companies fail from payinsr excessive dividends to stockholders as 
TVhII as hy large fires. Although the policy of a Safety Fund Company is worth 
more than that of a Company not complying with this law, the Continental doPS not 
Charge any more for its policies than any other good Companies ought to charge. 

Special Reserve Fund. $4-75,000.00 Guaranty Surp'us Fund, $475,000.00. 

AGENCIES THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES. 



1 48 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



LA CAISSE GENERALE 

OF PARIS. 

United States Branch, NEW YORK. 



TRUSTEES IN NEW YCRK. 

LOUIS DE COMEAU, Esq., of De Rham & Co. 

CHARLES COUDERT, Jr., Esq., of Coudert Brothers. 

CHARLES RENAULD, Esq., of Renauld, Francois & Co. 



JULIE N LE CESNE, Resident Secretary, 

31, 33 & 35 PINE STREET, NEW YORK. 

I. J. TEMPLE, Manager for Middle States, New York. 
R. POPE, General Agent for New England States, Boston. 

Robert Thorp. J. W. H. Thorp. R. A. Thorp. 

ESTABLISHED 1794. 



ROBERT THORP & SONS, 
$ilk j¥kqufkdturei% 

GALLOONS, DOUBLES, RIBBONS, PRUSSIAN BINDINGS, TAILORS' anc 

HATTERS' TRIMMINGS, ELASTIC CORDS and BRAIDS, HAT 

BINDINGS, BOOT and .SHOE BINDINGS, LACES. 

ISTo. 52 GKEENE STREET, 

MANCHESTER, NEW YORK, 

78 Great Bridgewater Street. 

LONDON ;]p_ O. IBOIX 3150. 

Whiteeross Street; E. C. 

FACTORY: MACCLESFIELD, ENG. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 149* 



HERMAN SIMON, 

MANUFACTURER OF 

BLACK & COLORED DRESS SILKS. 

FACTORY, TOWN OF UNION, N. J. 

SALESROOMS AT 

E. OELBERMANN & CO., 

62 and 64 Worth Street, New York. 

John Comby, 

PATERSON AVENUE and WEST STREET, 

WEST HOBOKEN, H. J. 

MANUFACTURER OF 

Gros Grain, Colored and Black.. 
>few Yofk Silk ffefinigliing r^tkbliAment r 

(ESTABLISHED 1868.) 

A. HINZE & CO. 

Office, I actory, 

47 MERCER STREET, HOBOKEN. N. J.. 

Finishing Silk Goofls is our exclusive business. 

All goods insured against loss by fire. 

A. HlNZE. H. W, BOETTGER. 

LYON AND CREFELDER SILK REFINISHING ESTABLISHMENT. 

LIPS, NATHAN & KUPPERS. 

SATINS, VELVETS, 1 EMBOSSED, 

MAT fRES TIE ana \ ^FINISHED 

" MILLINERY SILKS. J And WATERED. 

REFINISHING IN ALL ITS BRANCHES. 
Factory and Office, 28 HOWARD STREET, 

Corner of Crosby Street, NEW YORK- 



«50 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

MANUFACTURERS OF SOAP FOR 

SILK DYERS AND THROWSTERS, 

LINEN ; FLAX, COTTON, 

WOOLEN and WORSTED GOODS. 

FACTORY AND OFFICE: 

204 to 212 STRA.IG-HT STREET, 

Corner of ELLISON, PATERSON, N. J. 

I 3 . O. ZBOIX 738. 



C A. HOB ART, Frcs. G. S. AFTER BURY, Secy and Treas. 

GEORGE LAW, Manager. 

ilk Mill Machinery 

and SUPPLIES, 

Shuttles, Bobbins, Collets, Mails, Cutting Nippers, &c. 
143 DUANE STREET, 

(P. O. BOX 396. 3XTEW YORK- 

HAYES & CRAWFORD, 

SILK MANUFACTURERS, 

Dress Goods, Handkerchiefs, 
TIE SILK^, SCARFS, <&c. 

NIGHTINGALE'S MILL, 

:R.A.T:s:Fi-So:ixr, nxr. J". 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. IS 1 



ESTABLISHED 18SO. 



JACQUARD MACHINES, 

NEW PATENT, 

Expressly constructed for Silk Weaving and FAST SPEED. 

Card Stamping and Repeating Machines. 

ALL FINDINGS FOR FIGURED WEAVING. 

JACQUARD MOTIONS, with HARNESS TIED UP, and all connections with 

Looms made on the most approved principles, ready to 

draw in the Warps. 

DESIGNING and CARD PUNCHING DONE TO ORDER. 



RIBBON LOOMS, 

UP TO FOUR BANKS OF SHUTTLES, 

WITH SHAFTS AND JACQUARD MOTIONS. 
LATHES OR BATTONS MADE TO ORDER. 

Silk Winding Machines, 

ON THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH PRINCIPLES. 

QUILL WINDERS, 

OF A NEW CONSTRUCTION. 



CSeqtrifugkl Qydro-^xti<k6tor% 

WITH AND WITHOUT STEAM ENGINES ATTACHED: 

Supplied with Copper Baskets, expressly gotten up for Silk Dyers. 

W. P. UHL1NGER, 

Nos. 18, 20, 22 & 24 CANAL STREET, 

East of Front Street, below Girard Avenue, 

PHILADELPHIA, PA. 



CONSTRUCTION AND WORKMANSHIP WARRANTED FIRST-CLASS. 



I5 2 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 

TOUUNT LOCKETT, 
0ilk Mkqufktturer', 

TIE SILKS, DRESS GOODS, HANDKERCHIEFS, SCARFS, &a 

WASHINGTON MARKET BUILDING 

PATERSON, N. J. 

ANTHONY POCACHARD, 

Silk Manufacturer. 

SILK DRESS GOODS, 

Millinery Goods, Silk Velvets, &c. 

177 MARKET STREET, 

PATERSON, N. J. 

M. J. HAWKS & CO., 



MANUFACTURERS OF 



Silk Prussian Bindings, Galloons, &c. 

HAMILTON MILL, PATERSON, N. J. 

M. H. CHOPIN, Agent, 

68 GREENE STREET, NEW YORK. 



f> 



miller & brown, 
ilk Manufacturers. 

SILK DRESS GOODS, 

HANDKERCHIEFS, SCARFS, &c. 

93 RIVER STREET, 

PATERSON, U. OT. 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 1 53 

WRIGHT SMITH, 

MANUFACTURER OF 

Sift Dress Goo is, Tie Sifts, Scarfs k HanflkercWefs, 

Corner Madison and Morton Streets, 
PATERSON, N. J. 

WHITNEY & MATHEWS, AGENTS, 
57 LEONARD STREET, NEW YORK. 

w. D. noj^MES, 

MANUFACTURER OF 

Dress Silks, Handkerchiefs, Scarfs, 

Millinery gilktf, Tie gilk& &d. 

9 FAIR STREET, PATERSON, N. J. 
ATWOOD, CRAWFORD & CO., 

Successors to CUSHMAN, PHILLIPS & CO. 

MANUFACTURERS OF SPOOLS, 

For Cotton and. Linen Thread. 

Machine Twist, Tram and Sewing Silk. 

Braider, Spinning and Twister Bobbins, and all kinds of Fancy 

Turning, &c. 
Abner Atwood, 

KS PAWTUCKET, R. I. 

HERRMAN DIENELT. GEO. F. EI5ENHARDT. GEO. F. GELBACH. 

DIENELT & EISENHARDT, 

And Manufacturers' of RIBBON LOOMS, PATENT 

JACQUARD MACHINES, QUILL WINDERS, 

FILLING MACHINES, HYDRO-EXTRACTORS 

and FINDINGS, for Figured Weaving. 

1306, 1303 & 1310 HOWARD STREET, 

Above Thompson Street, FHILADELP1HA, PA. 



J 54 



THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



JOSEPH LOTH & CO., 



MANUFACTURERS OF 



Fine Silk 



FACTORY; 

NEW YORK 




Ribbons. 



SALESROOM: 

458 Broome St 

NEW YORK. 



E. O'KEEFE, 



P 



rmter, 



s 



tationer, 



AND 



BLANK BOOK MAtpjlCTURER, 

28, 30&32 Centre St., 

Cor. BeadeandD-uaneSts., HEW YORK. 



ESTIMATES CHEERFULLY FURNISHED. 





THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 155 

GRIMSHAW BROTHERS, 

SILK MANUFACTURERS, 

Mills : Corner of Dale Avenue and Slater Street, 

PATERSON, N. J. 

Salesrooms : 71 FRAKKLIN STREET, H. Y 



Fine Handkerchiefs, Scarfs, Ties, Tie Silks,, 
SERGES, DRESS GOODS, MILLINERY GOODS, ftc. 

J oicci_~u_a,rd Q-oods a, S:peoi£trt37-_ 

George Morlot, 
silk dyee, 

Of Organzine, Tram, Fringes, Twist, Sewings and Embroider}- Silks r 

COLORS AND BLACK, 

Pure and Weighted, 

For Ribbons, Fancy Goods, Dress Goods and Serges, 
Works: PATERSON, N. J. 

Office, 38 HOWARD STREET, - New York, 



156 THE SILK GOODS OF AMERICA. 



CHENEY BROTHERS, 

Silk Manufacturers, 

PTFOUP AND SOUTH MANCHESTER, 

Connecticut. 

Salesroom, 477 Broome St., N. Y. 



DRESS SILKS, Black and Colored. 
GROS GRAINS, BROCADES, 
SATINS, PARASOL SILKS, 
MILLINERY SILKS, 

Plain and Printed HANDKERCHIEFS, 
Printed DRESS GOODS, 

FOULARDS and SATINS, 
RIBBONS, SASHES, 

TRAMS, ORGANZINES, 
And Fine Patent SPUN SILKS, for .Manufacturers. 



